When Worlds Collide
by Phoebe Dawson
Summary: After a chance meeting, Charlie is intrigued by a new girl...but what becomes of his feelings for Amita? CA & COC...I'm back after a horrendously long break from writing this story
1. Chapter 1

Summary: After a chance meeting, Charlie is intrigued by a new girl…but what becomes of his feelings for Amita? COC or CA

Disclaimer: "A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend" - Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer  
I do not own the any of the characters nor do I have any rights  
to anything involving numb3rs

A/N: Ok so here goes guys, my fifth fanfic (wow! It doesn't seem that long ago that I wrote the first). Hope you guys enjoy!

When Worlds Collide

"Charles you really must slow down" Dr. Larry Fleinhardt called after his friend, Dr. Charlie Eppes

"Come on Larry, I need to get to class" Charlie called over his shoulder to his friend who was lagging behind him

"Charles, why the rush?" Larry said falling farther behind now that they've hit a high traffic area of the campus

"Because I need to get there on time" Charlie shouted back turning briefly to look at Larry, his voice sounding farther away from when he said his first comment

"Charles!" Larry yelled, stopping to let a large clump of girls past. Charlie ceased his speed walking for a moment, then resumed when Larry caught up "Why must you be directly on time?" Larry questioned, wanting to grab his friend and make him stand still

"Because-" Charlie started but then stopped short (both in walking and speaking) for he couldn't shout out why he was in a rush. Larry relieved that he caught up to his friend, laid his hand on his shoulder and huffed out

"Because why?"

"Because I need to see" Charlie paused looking around for any students then whispered "Amita"

"Oh Charles" Larry shook his head. Charlie wanted to know what that statement meant but he couldn't see his friend's face

"Larry, what does that mean?" Charlie asked in a firm voice

"It means-" Larry started but the chimes that indicated the start of the next class sounded

"I have to go" Charlie spoke, already running towards his class. However because he was speaking to Larry he wasn't looking where he was going and did not see the young woman (who was also not looking where she was going) heading towards him

"Charles, look-" Larry yelled but it was too late. His friend had already collided with the woman. Larry had to admit it was quite comical and very movie like the way they collided. All their papers flew in all directions and limbs became entangled

"Ow" The young woman and Charlie moaned in unison as they sat up

"Charles, are you ok?" Larry asked trying to sound concerned (though it is quite hard while you're also trying to stifle laughter) as he helped gather his friends papers.

"Yes, I'm fine. How are you?" Charlie asked taking his papers and then turning to see the young woman still scrambling to gather papers

"I'm- I'm ok" She mumbled _Why today? Why him?_

"Are you sure? Here let me help you" Charlie spoke trying to catch her eye but she was avoiding his gaze

"Thank you" She mumbled again. _Crap, I'm going to be late_

"I think that's everything" Charlie said glancing around to see if they missed any papers. After a moment, Charlie realized he was still on the ground. He stood up quickly then looked down to see that the young woman still had not moved "Want help getting up?" Charlie offered holding out his hand

"I think I'll um sit here for another moment" The young woman spoke softly. _Wow, that was stupid_ she scolded herself. Charlie however found it funny and chuckled _Oh my god! Did I make him laugh? I cant believe that I made him laugh_

"You sure?" Charlie asked again forgetting that no more then two minutes ago he was in a rush. _She intrigues me, I wish she would just look at me_

"Actually, I'll take you up on that offer" She spoke a little stronger, as if convincing herself that it was ok to take his hand. She placed her hand in his and Charlie couldn't help but notice how soft it was. However she only made it halfway up before collapsing again- her ankle had given out

"Woah!" Charlie shouted while attempting to get her other hand, hoping that would ease to fall…didn't work though

"Ow" She whispered, while gingerly touching her ankle

"Larry, do me a favor and let my class know I'll be late. If I don't show up in fifteen minutes, dismiss them. I'm taking…wow, I never got your name"

"Allison. I'm Allison Arlen" She replied shyly

"I'm taking Allison to the health complex" Charlie spoke then kneeled down to help her up

"Oh gosh, you don't have to do that" Allison replied still avoiding his gaze. Charlie couldn't help thinking about how hesitant she was to look at him. _I still haven't seen what she looks like_

"This is all my fault, it's the least I can do- especially if you're hurt"

"Charles, I'm going to go to your class, then dropping your books off"

"Ok, thanks Larry"

"You're welcome Charles" Larry said then headed off in the direction of the classroom

"Ok let's try this again. Don't put any weight on your ankle. Just lean on me, I may be skinny but I'm stronger than you think" Charlie said attempting to make a joke. _It worked, _Charlie couldn't help thinking as she giggled. After a moment they were both on their feet (well Charlie on his feet, Allison on her foot)

"Thank you" Allison said looking at Charlie for the first time. When she did though, Charlie stopped breathing for a moment. _She's beautiful _"Professor Eppes" Allison spoke softly, breaking Charlie's day dream

"Oh wow, I'm sorry I spaced out. Give me your papers and bag" Charlie said holding out an arm. After taking everything from Allison, Charlie put his other arm around her and Allison hesitatingly put her arm on his shoulders and the two slowly made their way across the campus

A/N: Hope you guys liked the first chapter. Allison likes Charlie, like she's seen him around campus and thinks he's hot. I reread it and realized I didn't make it as obvious as I could have . Also, I'm sorry it took SO long to get that out. I was stuck for some reason. I have no clue where this is going to go (I usually have a rough outline of what I want to happen, this kinda just came to me one day) so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping you guys like it. Drop in a review, let me know if you want me to keep going.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Glad that people out there are reading it and enjoy it. Still haven't completely decided whether or not I want Charlie to be with Amita or Allison, but then of course you won't know that until I write it ;-)…oh and amocnrn, what college do you attend cause now I have to meet some of these professors

Chapter 2

"Well, well miss Arlen, back already?" The nurse greeted the moment Charlie and Allison made their presence known

"You frequent here?" Charlie whispered, a hint of laughter in his voice

"I um might be a bit…accident prone"

"Ah" Charlie responded smiling, helping her limp to exam room

"Thank you again, professor Eppes" Allison said softly as scooted onto the table

"Allison, Janet will be in a moment" The greeting nurse said poking her head into the room

"Thank you Marcy" Allison responded blushing. _Why does he have to see that I know the whole medical staff?_

"Hey Allison, I'll be back in a second ok?" Charlie asked trying not to lose what direction Marcy went in

"Ok" Allison mumbled not looking at Charlie. Charlie shook his head at her shyness and then ran into the hallway to find Marcy. He found her behind the desk

"Hi, um, Marcy was it?" Charlie asked speaking softly (it was so quiet in the room, he felt odd using his normal speaking voice, Marcy however didn't)

"Yes, may I help you?" She said looking up briefly from her clipboard

"Um well I was wondering if I should stay to help Allison get to class"

"I believe that she was heading to her office and if you have nothing else to do and are feeling generous, I'm sure she would appreciate it" After answering Marcy looked back down at her clipboard

"Of course I'll help her but did I hear clearly, did you say office?"

"Yes Allison is the new music professor" Marcy replied looking back up and taking in Charlie's appearance "I just realized that I never got your name"

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm Dr. Charlie Eppes, I'm a professor of mathematics" Charlie said smiling. Marcy was going to comment when presumably Janet approached the desk

"She's all set to go. She has to come back in about a week to see if her ankle's ready. How is she getting back to her office?" Janet asked handing over the file to Marcy

"I'll be helping her. I'm partly to blame" Charlie said waving his hand

"Ok, she'll be out in a minute" Janet answered. They stayed silent for a moment then they heard a commotion, some mumbling, and then distinct tap of crutches

"Hey Janet thanks again" Allison said smiling, and again Charlie stopped breathing. She let out a breath as resumed her movement which again was barely successful because of her book bag and papers

"Allison, let me help you" Charlie said taking a step forward

"Ch-Professor Eppes, I thought you had left" Allison turning shy again

"Not getting rid of me that easily. Here let me take these" Charlie said grabbing her books and gesturing for her to hand over the book bag "And please call me Charlie"

"Ok. Thank you again pro-Charlie"

"Your welcome…now where are we going?" Charlie said smiling as he held the door open for her

1234567890987654321123456789009876543211234567890

"Dad! I'm home!" Charlie called out kicking off his shoes

"He's out back buddy" Charlie's older brother Don replied instead of their father Alan

"Hey Don, what are you doing here?" Charlie asked teasing his brother. Don is an FBI agent and his family rarely sees him outside the office, unless of course Charlie is helping him with a case (which is becoming much more frequent)

"I am here because we wrapped up the case and I thought 'hey don't I have some family in the area? A father and a sibling of some sort? A brother I think'"

"Ha ha" Charlie replied giving his brother a tiny shove. They both laughed and then walked out onto the patio. Charlie greeted his father and the three men partook in a conversation as soon as dinner was ready

"So how was your day?" Alan asked eyeing his youngest. _He seems…different. _

"It was…good" Charlie responded to his food. Charlie didn't want to share his encounter with Allison until he was more sure of what it was

"Charlie" Alan spoke with the voice he uses whenever he wants to get Charlie to confess something

"What? It was a good day" Charlie answered as confidently as possible

"What happened buddy?" Don prompted

_Might as well tell them, maybe they could help you figure it all out _"Well I was in a rush to get to class-" Charlie started

"When aren't you?" Don asked teasing his brother, Charlie just rolled his eyes

"-and well I was talking over my shoulder to Larry and I kinda ran into someone"

"Charlie! How many times have I told you to always look where you're going?" Alan scolded but he was smiling at the same time so it did lose a lot of its threat

"Well, in my defense she wasn't looking where she was going either"

"So that's it? You ran into someone? How does that quantify as a good day?" Don asked sipping his beer

"Well, I um actually ended up hurting her- but I helped her" Charlie rushed before his father reprimanded him again "She seemed extremely shy. Whispering all the time and not looking at me. Well when I was helping her to her feet, she finally looked at me and she was…well to say attractive would be a slight understatement"

"Wow, tell me you didn't screw up" Don said eyeing his brother

"I didn't screw up. I helped her to the health office, where they knew her, which clearly embarrassed her. I found out that she's the new music professor. She was really nice. While we were walking across campus she kind of lightened up a bit."

"Charlie, tell me you got her number or something….anything" Don begged

"I know where her office is" Charlie offered weakly

"You're hopeless" Don sighed shaking his head

A/N: Yay! Sorry, people are leaving awesome comments and I didn't mention this before but two of my other fanfics got nominated and I'm just happy…on a different note though, does anyone else notice that in like all fanfics where the family is at the house and their relaxing, Don's drinking? Just an observation


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I went over and re-read the previous chapters and I realized they're horrible (well grammatically anyway). I promise I will re-read all the chapters before I post them, its just I was about to post one of the last chapters on my previous story, but I said 'let me hold on to it and re-read it'…then my comp crashed and I lost it all, so forgive me for being slightly paranoid…and don't worry amocnrn, I envy those beer bottles too J

Chapter 3

"So tell me more about this encounter yesterday" Zoë Pierce, Allison's best friend asked looking for a booth while she waited for her temporarily disabled friend to catch up

"I'd rather not talk about it" Allison said finally reaching the table Zoë had found, then plopping down

"Oh come on! This is me Alli. Are you seriously trying to tell me that you didn't enjoy it?" Zoë responded eyeing her friend

"I didn't enjoy the getting injured part" Alli said fighting a smile

"Yeah, cause we all know that you love getting hurt" Zoë rolled her eyes and then stared at Allison expectantly.

"What?" Alli questioned after waiting a few moments, knowing fully that it was killing her friend that she was withholding details

"Come on! Details, woman! Is he as dreamy as you thought he was?" Zoë begged her leaning across the table

"Even more then I thought" Alli responded giving in "I mean, when I've seen him around campus he's never that close to me but yesterday when he had his arm around me-"

"What!" Zoë exclaimed dropping her fork "What is this about him having his arm around you?"

"Well, when my ankle gave out, we had to get to the health complex to have it looked at. He took my books and bag and then put his arm around me so I could lean on him"

"Aw, that's cute. Ok, so we know that he's chivalrous and smart, what else?" Zoë asked then taking a bite of her food

"Well we talked…a lot actually. He's surprisingly easy to talk to. He told me about his dad and how he used to be a city planner, and his brother the FBI agent. He didn't say anything about his mom other then she was a musician, a piano player to be more exact…though he got this look in his eyes, a sad look" Allison stared at the table after that comment. She was contemplating on why he had looked so sad when they had talked about his mom

"Ok, so slight redirection" Zoë said after a moment of letting her friend think "His eyes? How were they? Deep and all knowing?"

"What are you talking about?" Allison questioned, looking at her friend as if she had just grown another head

"Hey, I haven't had a boyfriend in awhile-"

"Three months" Allison interrupted

"Yeah, awhile, like I was saying…I need to live vicariously through you. How were his eyes?"

"His eyes are brown. They portray his emotion so clearly…he must be a bad liar" Allison added thinking about the various topics and the way they had caused the change in Charlie's eyes

"And his body?" Zoë asked then shoving salad into her mouth

"ZOE!" Allison yelled (a little to loudly, a few of the other restaurant patrons turned to stare)

"What? Did we not just have this conversation? Details, woman, details"

"Uh, you suck. His legs are amazing. He can't drive so he rides his bike to and from school, which I understand is not an easy feat. In total overview he's skinny but what 'meat', for lack of a better word, he does have is ALL muscle"

"He sounds yummy. So did you get his number? Are you seeing him again?"

"No and probably not purposely" Allison answered getting slightly depressed as complete realization set in

"Alli! Have I taught you nothing?" Zoë exclaimed with a very pronounced sigh

"What? He mentioned this girl Amita, and his oh so expressive eyes lit up whenever he said her name…I pretty sure he likes her"

"Oh whatever, maybe he likes you too. You can't let someone like him slip away" Zoë ended softly while laying a hand on top of her friend's

"I don't know Zoë. What if I'm not intellectually stimulating enough for him?" Alli questioned scrambling for a good excuse

"Ok you just answered your own question. People who are not 'intellectually stimulating' would not use the words intellectually stimulating" Zoë pointed out

"Zoë…"

"Don't worry about it…now, let's go shopping" Zoë exclaimed standing up abruptly

"You are the master of topic change and/or mood swings" Alli laughed rolling her eyes, grabbing her crutches

A/N: Hope you guys liked that one, kind of a filler till I get more of the story planned out. Sorry to all Amita fans that she hasn't appeared yet, I promise it'll be soon…so you guys wanna make my day? Click the pretty purple button and review the story :big cheesy smile:


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: This chapter takes place at the same time the previous chapter does…so Alli and Zoë are eating and across town Charlie and Amita are in Charlie's office

Chapter 4

"Can I come in Charlie?" Amita Ramanujan, Charlie's graduate student, asked knocking on the door frame

"Amita, yes of course. Come in" Charlie replied, a smile gracing his face

"I wanted to know if you were ok" Amita spoke shyly, which isn't much like her normal self

"Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Charlie posed the question then sat down in one of his empty chairs (for most were full of papers), gesturing Amita to sit also

"Yesterday, Larry rushed in to the room. He said that you were going to be late because you had an incident, then he turned to me said that if you didn't get there in ten minutes to dismiss everybody. So we waited, I dismissed the class but I waited for you. You never showed up, so I got" Amita stopped short, not wanting to admit that she was worried about him more then just a student worrying about her teacher "Well I just wanted to make sure that you were ok" Amita finished glancing at her hands

"Amita-" Charlie started. He was going to apologize but his cell phone rang "Charlie Eppes….Hey Don…Just talking with Amita…I'll ask her" Charlie lowered the phone from his mouth "It's Don, he has a case he could use our help on. Are you free?"

Amita paused for a moment. She was supposed to go out with one of her friends, Eve, but Eve would quickly reschedule because she knows how much it means to Amita to spend time with Charlie "In a few minutes I will be. I just have to call my friend and reschedule"

"Oh you don't have to do that. Don would understand-"

"Its not a big deal. If I tell her that I'm helping the FBI solve a case, I think she'll understand"

"Ok" Charlie responded, not being able to help how his heart skipped a beat at the thought of spending more time with Amita. He picked the phone back up "Don?…Yeah we're free…that soon?…how did you-?…:sigh: ok we'll be waiting" Charlie hung up the phone and rolled his eyes "Don will be here in five minutes. It turns out he was confident enough that I would help that he waited till he was close to ask"

Amita laughed and then they lapsed into silence. Her curiosity was killing her so it wasn't long before she spoke again "So out of curiosity, that is if you don't mind me asking, where were you?" Amita asked shyly

Charlie debated telling Amita. _I care for Amita deeply, what if I lose her because of the chance meeting with Allison? _"I had an embarrassing moment. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I might have ran into someone. They ended getting hurt so I helped them to the health complex"

Amita opened her mouth to ask who (for he had been very vague) but Don chose that moment to walk in

"Hi buddy, Amita. You guys ready?" Don asked not coming into the room, for he feared (slightly) that they would get involved with an explanation and then they would never get to the office

"Yeah I just have to grab my bag" Charlie said standing up and retrieving his bag from where he left it when he came entered in the morning

"Thought you said you were going to be ready" Don mumbled

"I heard that" Charlie quipped back

1234567890987654321123456789009876543211234567890

"Any updates?" Don asked as he walked through the bull pen to where his team was

"Don you were gone a half an hour" Megan said giving him a withering look. Don however shot back a look of his own "No there are no updates for you"

"Thank you" Don said walking to his desk and then sitting down. Charlie and Amita who had been timidly following (they still felt a little awkward in the building) finally made their way to Don's desk. Don however was so absorbed with his work that he forgot that his brother and Amita had even come along

"Charlie-" Amita whispered and Charlie turned to face her "What are we supposed to be doing? Cause I could have gone with my friend if all we're going to do is stand here and watch Don work"

"Hold on, I'll go ask David" Charlie said laying a reassuring hand on Amita's arm then stepped away to David's desk

"Hey Charlie, what's up? Here to help on the case?" David asked after Charlie made his presence known

"Well that's the thing. Don asked me and Amita to come and see if we could help with this case, but he didn't tell us what the case was about"

"Meet me in the conference room by Don's desk and I'll give you everything you need to know" David said standing up, grabbing a few files and other relevant, then walking to make copies. Charlie headed back to Don's cubicle, gathered Amita, and together they headed towards the conference room

"Hey Charlie, Amita, I just want to thank you for helping us with this case" Megan said smiling at the pair

"Don't thank us yet Megan, I still don't know if we can help. We still haven't been told what the case is"

"Here" David said walking in, and handing them folders with copies of everything they needed, as if on cue

"Sorry for ignoring you before" Don apologized as he walked into the room

"It's ok Don, but um would you mind telling us why we're here?" Charlie asked as calmly as possible but his patience was wearing thin

"There was a rash of kidnappings and murders" David answered, opening his folder, Amita and Charlie following suit "The first was the ten year old daughter of a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, her body was found ten days later. Second was seventeen year old Belmont high school athlete, her body was found three days later. The last was the wife of a postal worker, her body was found a week later" David stopped and looked at the picture. She reminded her of his sister. Megan took over the speech

"The only connection that we have is that all the victims were female, kidnapped, raped and then killed in the same way- strangulation. The first two have proven to be killed at different time, in the sense that one was killed two days after capture and the other five. Were waiting for the TOD on the last but that's most likely going to lead us anywhere. We were hoping you two would be able to find a link between them" Megan said sitting, looking at them with just a tiny glint of hope in her eyes

"We'll do our best. We just need some supplies" Charlie said beckoning Amita over to the board and when they both started talking quickly, Don knew that they were gone to world

A/N: Sorry that took so long…I had an unexpected busy week. Click the review button and I'll see if I can get David Krumholtz and/or Rob Morrow to thank you personally ;-)…no promises though :-D


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: OK, I'm warning you now this chapter may be slightly hard to follow. To stop the problem before it starts here is a quick overview: First section is with Alli, after the first page break (the series of numbers) we're with Charlie, then after the second page break we're back with Alli. We good? Ok. Here's chapter 5

Oh and a tiny spoiler for Dark Matter

Chapter 5

"Earth to Alli" Zoë spoke waving a hand in front of her face

"Oh, hey darling! What are you doing here?" Alli said standing up from behind her piano, and giving her friend a hug

"Came to sit in on your next class, you do have a class?" Zoë asked. She really dropped by the campus to see if she could spot this Eppes guy but when she her lounging turned up no results, she headed to her friend's classroom (or at least what she hoped was her friend's classroom, as luck would have it she was right)

"Yeah in about ten minutes" Alli answered after consulting her watch

"What class is it?" Zoë asked taking a seat behind Alli's rarely used desk

"Music theory 1" Alli answered searching for her papers, namely the ones that contained the song that she had been working on for the class

"What does that exactly cover? Cause as much as I love watching you teach, if I have no clue what your talking about- not as much fun"

"Music notation, basic musicianship, figured-bass harmony, keyboard, harmony, literature, style, form and analysis"

"Yay! I know that…I think" Zoë exclaimed then looked confused when she discovered that Alli was laughing at her

1234567890987654321123456789009876543211234567890

"What is perplexing you Charles?" Larry asked while watching his friend lost in thought "Is it the new case?" Larry asked casually looking over the chalkboard that Charlie had been writing on ten minutes ago

"No, no, its not that. I have to wait for the data analysis" Charlie responded, vaguely waving a hand at the board but his eyes remained on the spot he had been staring at for quite some time

"What is it then? Anything I can help with?"

"Well yes, I guess. I need woman advice" Charlie spoke softly, not looking up at Larry the whole. Had he looked he might have been able to stop himself before Don entered the room

"You asking Larry for girl advice?" Don's voice teased and he was smiling

"Yes, I'm asking him for advice because he has been on a date in the past week, whereas I don't now how long its been since you've dated" Charlie responded, not being able to help teasing his brother

"Who are you to speak, Mr. I blew my date with Amita?" Don teased back

"Now, now boys" Larry interrupted both "Charles has a situation he'd like us to help him fix"

"I think I know what it's about already" Don said in his all knowing older brother voice. Charlie nodded

"Well feel free to fill me in" Larry spoke, slight irritation in his voice

"Sorry Larry. It's about Amita and Allison"

"Who's Allison?" Larry asked looking quite perplexed

"The girl he ran into a few days ago" Don answered for Charlie looking smug. Charlie glared at his brother

"Oh Charles, now you have crushes on two students" Larry responded shaking his head

"That's the thing Larry, she's not a student. She's the new music professor" Charlie said exasperated. He crossed the room and plopped down in his chair. To occupy himself he began to shift through papers

"She's a professor? Charles, if it is indeed a choice between the two of them, it must be Allison"

"But why? I don't want to choose her because she's the safe choice. I don't want to choose. I want to let my heart decide"

"Let your heart-" Don started but then was silenced at the look Charlie gave him. It wasn't an angry, it was one that made Don realize that the conversation was a serious one now "So what's going on in your head?"

"Allison intrigues me and I want to get to know her better. She's smart and funny and she's beautiful, Don…but Amita. I just can't forget her. I mean Amita is everything that Allison is but different. I can't even make a choice because I don't know if Allison likes me and I probably blew my chance with Amita"

"I think you need to get to know Allison better before you can make that choice" Larry answered resting his chin on hands

"I need an excuse" Charlie said suddenly tipping his chair onto it's two back legs. Unfortunately, this swift movement caused him to knock over some papers. Charlie rolled his eyes, and then bent to pick them all up

"Can't you just say you were wondering how her ankle was doing?" Larry suggested peering over the desk. Charlie sat back up, scribbled something on a post it note and then stuck it on to the last paper

"No, I just found something better" Charlie said standing up waving the papers in his hand "I'll be back soon. An hour tops" Charlie was about to run out of the room when Don stopped him

"Charlie, I didn't stop in just to say hello. I came to tell you that there has been another murder"

"Oh" Charlie stopped dead in his tracks and hung his head

"Though something tells me if we lose an hour it won't make a huge difference"

"Are you sure Don?" Charlie asked, his voice betraying the fact that he was secretly hoping that Don wouldn't have just been joking with him

"Yes, I'm sure just don't take forever"

"Come on then" Charlie called as he started to rush out the door

"Bye Larry, um can you close his door?" Don said, then rushed after Charlie when Larry nodded his agreement

1234567890987654321123456789009876543211234567890

"Ok guys, settle down!" Allison called out to the rowdy class "I need you all to take out your work and hand it in. Place it on my desk" She spoke gesturing to the her desk, then went back to looking through her bag. Zoë, feeling awkward sitting behind her friend's desk while all her students filed towards it, stood up to stand next to her friend

"What are you looking for?" Zoë asked after watching her friend for a minute

"The class work for today. I wrote a song, and they were going to analyze it"

"When was the last time you remember seeing them?" Zoë asked trying to help while also trying not to laugh

"Before…I ran into Charlie" Allison replied realization dawning on her. She hung her head trying to figure out what she should do. She was frozen for a moment before a voice of her student broke through

"Professor Arlen" James, one of Allison's students called

"Yes?" Allison replied

"Um, I think someone here's to see you" Allison looked towards the door after hearing her James' words

"Dr. Eppes" She spoke just loud enough for Charlie to hear

"Professor Arlen, may me and my brother enter?" Charlie asked blushing slightly. He was hoping to catch her BEFORE class started

"Of course" Allison responded waving him into the room. He walked confidently across the room, Charlie was in his element. Don, however, slinked across the room, feeling a good portion of the room's eyes on him. _Maybe this is how Charlie feels when he first started visiting me at the office_

"I was looking for a lesson plan of mine on my desk when I came across these" Charlie said holding out the papers, covered with music. On the last paper he had

"My class work! I've been looking for these! Thanks Charlie" Allison said letting her arms drop to her sides while smiling. Her whole face lighting up. Don (_Wow, she is beautiful_) and Zoë (_he is as cute as she says, and that hair, bet its soft….hmm that's his brother? Wonder if he's single…_) both watched this interaction with intense interest.

"You're welcome, though I must admit, I wish I knew what it all meant"

"I thought you said your mother was a pianist? I thought she would have drilled SOME music skills into your head"

"I haven't tried to read music in years"

"Would you like to sit in on the class?" Allison asked before she could stop herself

"I can't today, actually. I need to help my brother with something. Maybe next week?" Charlie suggested hoping that it was ok

"Of course. I'll see you then" Allison smiled again, then watched Charlie and his brother leave. She turned back to the class who was seated. She removed the last sheet in stack, pausing when she saw that Charlie had put a post it note on it, containing his number.

A/N: Sorry that took so long, hope you understood. Drop a review in, it makes me happier than you know


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Term papers suck…so does anatomy and physiology, stomach bugs, writer's block and never ending activities (in and out of school)…that and I really have no excuse to leave you guys hanging so long. I'd say I'm sorry but I've apologized so many times I think those words have lost their meaning

Chapter 6

"Did we find anything?" Don asked walking into the bullpen. His voice held a tone that was practically begging for anything that would be helpful. Unfortunately it was the kind of begging that only occurs when you know that ninety nine point nine percent its what you think but there's part of your brain that refuses to give up hope

"Sorry Don. It was clean" David replied hating to let down his boss and friend

"Who was the last victim?" Charlie asked as he pulled his copy of the file and a legal pad to make notes

"An Angela Bartlett. She was found in her bedroom by a concerned neighbor"

"What was her profession? Her age?" Charlie asked after jotting down the information he had just received

"She was thirty two, a bartender" David double checks before giving Charlie the information

"Give me some time to put this into my algorithm" Charlie asked rolling out his white board which had been stored in the corner of the frequently used conference room

"Ok Charlie" Don responds but got only the tapping of a dry erase marker as an answer

1234567890987654321123456789009876543211234567890

"Ok so why did you just let him walk out?" Zoë said sighing at her friend "Weren't you just saying that you'd like never see him again and then he walks into your room, with his sexy brother in tow"

Alli just sighed "Zoë, sweetie, if his brother was there that meant Charlie had to go help him"

"Help him with what?" Zoë questioned

"A case of his. You do remember the part of the conversation we had at the restaurant where I mentioned that his brother is an FBI agent?"

"I didn't know he helped with cases…hmm so math actually is good for something"

"Just cause you're not good at math…" Allison teased her friend while writing on the board in preparation for her next class

"You're still avoiding the question Alli" Zoë said seriously "I don't want to see you pass up something that could be good for you. I know John hurt you but that doesn't mean Charlie will"

"I admit, I'm scared. I know that Charlie probably won't hurt me but I didn't think John was going to hurt me either"

"Alli-" Zoë started but Alli interrupted her

"It's hard. I'm starting a new job, with new people and I just don't need a new boyfriend on top of all of it…not to mention the fact that we are assuming WAY too much. I mean just because he gave me his number-"

"He gave you his number! Alli, are you really that blind! I could see that he's attracted to you and he did seem genuinely upset "

"Zoë, please" Alli's voice broke "I'm not sure I'm ready for this and I don't want to feel guilty about it"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to pressure you in anyway" Zoë said stepping forwards to hug her friend

"It's ok, I'm sure I'm being more stubborn then anything else" Alli said smiling as best as she could

"Well as much as I'd love to sit through that lesson again, I have to go, I have an appointment"

"Alright, bye darling" Alli responded hugging her friend, then turning back towards the chalkboard

"Alli" Zoë called out when she reached the room. Alli looked up in response "Do yourself a favor and call Charlie" Then she ran out before Alli could protest

"I'm going to kill that girl" Alli whispered to herself

1234567890987654321123456789009876543211234567890

As Don paused to roll his neck after staring at the computer, he had a chance to glance at the clock. To his surprise more than an hour or two had gone by. Don was about to return to his painstaking (but extremely boring though most likely beneficial) work when his phone rang

_Must be dad or someone _"Eppes" Don answered in his normal gruff manner, despite the fact he believed it to be his father

"Am I speaking to the agent in charge of the recent rash of…rapes shall you say?" A mystery voice spoke into the phone. Red flags had gone up in Don's head by the word agent and he had his team attempting to get a trace on the call by the end of the question

"Yes, you are speaking to the lead agent" Don responded with some control "Who am I speaking with?"

"Now, now agent…you know I just realized that I didn't catch your name, that isn't right is it?"

"Eppes. My name is Eppes" Don said not being able to keep ALL of the anger out of his voice

"Agent Eppes, do I detect a hint of anger?"

"What do you want!" Don yelled into the phone not being able to contain his feelings anymore. _This guy killed raped and killed four people, one of which was a ten year old girl, and he's scolding me!_

"I'm want you to leave me alone!" The man retaliated "You need to stop looking for me! If you continue, the people you and your team care about will get hurt"

"You think threatening the FBI is a good-" Don started to say before the suspect interrupted him

"Goodbye agent Eppes" The man interrupted Don, then hung up

"Tell me we got a trace" Don yelled out loud while praying on the inside

"Sorry Don" Megan called back

"Damn it!" Don yelled banging his fists on the desk

"We'll get him Don" David spoke softly laying a hand on Don's shoulder "Why don't you go check on how Charlie's doing?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll do that" Don said standing while taking a deep breath and then walking with what he hoped appeared as purpose

"We'll get him Don" David said again though he knew Don couldn't hear him, then turned and walked to is desk to continue shifting through personnel files from all the crime scene locations hoping to find ANY clue

A/N: Hope this keeps you guys happy for a little while


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Ok, so I had this chapter ready about 2 or 3 days ago and it was reviewed and everything but for some reason the site wouldnt let me update! It just said that there was an error in processing my request...just felt like sharing

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 7

"Dad? Charlie!" Don called as he opened the door to Charlie's house "Hello! Anyone!" Don called again getting nervous as the call from a few hours ago was still fresh in his mind

"Donnie, is that you?" Alan replied closing the door to the backyard behind him

"Yeah, it's me" Don answered letting out a breath he barely knew that he was holding

"How's the case going?" Alan asked, then explained when he saw that Don had raised an eyebrow "Charlie came in and walked straight to the garage muttering something about needing to run his algorithm again now that he had more data"

"Ah, where is he now?" Don asked glancing around

"Out back staring at the koi" Alan replied sensing that there was more then curiosity at hand

"Ok, thanks dad" Don replied and then brushed past him to make sure that his baby brother was safe with his own eyes. Don stepped out and walked down the stone path and found his brother skimming his fingers along the top of the water "Hey buddy"

"Hey Don, I didn't even hear you pull up" Charlie replied standing up and wiping his hand off on is jeans. The two men started walking over towards the chairs on the deck.

"Well you were staring at the koi pretty hard" Don said teasingly, dropping down into one of the chairs

"Do-on" Charlie whined sounding like he was five years old again as he dropped down into the chair next to his brother

"How old are you? Cause I thought you were an adult" Don replied not being able to help teasing his brother

"Don-" Charlie spoke using the tone he takes with uncooperative students

"Hey, don't use that professor tone with me" Don shot back struggling against his smile

"Don, why are you here?" Charlie asked frustrated "Not that I don't want to see you" Charlie added as an afterthought. His relationship with Don was still a little fragile, he didn't need to shatter it with an idiot comment like that. Don just laughed at his brother's attempt to cover up something he thought was hurtful

"I wanted to see how you were" Don answered. It was the truth after all (albeit not the FULL truth, it was the truth all the same)

"I'm fine Don" Charlie answered quickly, which of course made it very apparent to Don that Charlie, was indeed, NOT fine

"Ok, now I know you're lying. What's up?" Don spoke softly before that day's phone call surfaced again and Don had to force the panic from rising "Did someone bother you?" Don added concern saturating his voice

"No! Nothing like that" With an inward sigh of relief Don relaxed and prepared to hear what was bothering Charlie "It's just…ugh, this is embarrassing" Charlie replied pausing feeling ridiculous that he extracted the previous reaction from Don. It reminded him of those days in their childhood when Don would try and find out who had given him that days beating.

"Come on Charlie, you can tell me what's bothering you" Don said nudging his brother

"Don it's really embarrassing" Charlie replied blushing at the thought of what was bothering him. It was then that Don noticed what one of Charlie's hands was doing: it was turning something in his pocket over and over again

"Charlie what is it?" Don said getting slightly frustrated

"It's just, when I gave the lesson plans to Alli today, I stuck a post it note with my number on the bottom. I know she saw it because I saw her set aside the paper that I put the number on. She hasn't called yet"

"You gave her your number?" Don spoke, his tone unreadable

"Should I not have?" Charlie asked panicking slightly

"No, its fine. I just didn't know you had it in you"

"Yeah well maybe I-" but Charlie didn't finish because his phone started ringing

1234567890987654321123456789009876543211234567890

"Hey sis" Alli greeted walking into her childhood home

"ALLI!" Rachael screamed getting up from the couch and running across the room

"OW!" Alli yelped as her sister collided into her in attempts of giving a hug "I didn't think ya missed me that much. I mean we do spend our days in the same place"

"But you're a teacher, I'm a student" Rachael said releasing her older sister "I don't have classes with you"

"Rach, you know where my office is, feel free to stop in anytime" Alli teased

"You suck" Rachael retorted shoving her older sister

"Girls, stop it" Marlene Arlen called from her kitchen

"Sorry mom" They called back in unison smiling at each other

"So how was your day?" Rachael asked pulling Alli down onto the couch

"…Interesting" Alli replied knowing full well that she had paused too long. Rachael opened her mouth to question her sister but was interrupted by her mothers call for them to come to the table "Smells great mom" Alli commented inhaling deeply

"Maybe if you came by more often…" Marlene replied. She enjoyed teasing her daughter. She knew that she was busy with her other jobs (seeing as teaching doesn't pay much)

"Mom, don't start" Alli replied, sighing and rolling her eyes. Rachael sensing that there may be a fight coming on decided to pick up the conversation she and Alli were having before dinner was ready

"Alli, what did you mean when you said that your day was interesting?" Rachael asked her curiosity peaking

Ugh, why did I say anything? "Just that I found my long lost lesson plans"

"That makes for an interesting day? Is your life really that boring?" Rachael teased

"Well, I was planning on not saying anything until I had made a decision…but the guy that returned them was the guy that knocked me over, which is how he got them in the first place-"

"Alli, point please, a decision about what?" Rachael said getting frustrated. Marlene however was looking quite amused

"Rach, maybe if you didn't interrupt…anyway he came and returned my plans today and he left a post it note with his number on it on the bottom page"

"So are you going to call him?" Rachael excitedly asked

"Well, that's the thing I don't know-"

"ALLI!" Both Marlene and Rachael yelled at the same time

"What?"

"Don't tell me you're still hung up on John!" Marlene exclaimed

"Mom!"

"What!"  
"I am not! If anything about this whole thing involves John, it would be he made me lose confidence in men…I would never go back to John after what he did to me"

"Alli, I'm sorry-" Marlene tried to explain. What else could she assume? After all it was typical for abused women to go back to their abusive significant others

"You know what mom, I have to go grade papers" Alli said rising quickly and walking towards the front door

"Alli wait!" Rachael called after her sister but the only response she got was the door slamming

"Why did she have to-? I could just UGH!" Alli yelled at her steering wheel, then she erupted into tears "I ne-need to ta-talk to z-Zoë" Alli thought out loud then dialed her friends number…only to get an answering machine "Damn it z-Zoë!" Alli scrolled through her phone when she came across Charlie's recently added number. There was a small voice in the back of her mind (soundly oddly like a mix of her sister and Zoë) telling her to call. Being as upset as she was she listened to the voice. As it started ringing though she realized what she was about to do when "Crap" Alli was about to hang up when she heard a tentative…

"Hello?"

Crap "H-Hi. Is Ch-Charlie Eppes there?" Alli asked, quietly cursing the fact that she was STILL crying

"Speaking…is this Alli?" Charlie asked as softly Alli had

"Yes, I'm s-sorry t-to bother y-you" Alli

"It's fine Alli, but um are you ok? You sound like you're crying" Charlie spoke, stronger this time an unknown need to protect Alli rising in his chest. Don shifted closer to his brother after hearing the tone change in his voice

"Damn , I w-was h-hoping you wouldn't n-notice"

"Alli, what happened?" Charlie asked concern saturating his voice which caused two separate actions: Don's shifting slightly closer and Alli lapsing into a bigger fit of tears. Charlie of course hadn't meant to make Alli cry harder, so Charlie therefore started to panic slightly. This was not lost on Don, who now moved so that he was RIGHT next to Charlie (he needed to hear what was happening on the other end of the phone)

"Charlie what did you say to her?" Don scolded (which would have been more effective had he not been whispering) after hearing the sobbing Alli

"Nothing!" Charlie whispered back "She was crying, so I asked what was wrong, she said she hoped I wouldn't notice and then I asked her what happened and she started sobbing"  
"Ch-Charlie?" A voice called out from the phone in Charlie's hand

"Alli, I'm still here. What happened?" Charlie asked again hoping that she would tell him

"I g-got into a fight with my mom" Alli said, then realizing how idiotic that sounded she swiftly smacked herself on the forehead

"What was that?" Charlie asked perplexed at the sound of a soft 'thud' that had sounded on Alli's end

"That was m-me sc-scolding mys-self for bothering you"

"Alli, you weren't bothering me. Now, I'm to give you an option: you an either drive over to my house and tell me what happened or you can tell me now" Charlie spoke forcefully. As soon as hi finished though he slapped his hand over his mouth. When did I become that bold? Did I really invite her over to my house? I barely know her. IDIOT! Charlie was so busy yelling at himself, he almost missed Alli's timid question

"How d-do you g-get to your h-house?"

A/N: Ok so to make up for taking FOREVER, it's on the longer side…but since it is summer, the chapters should be coming out faster- but don't hold me to that. This story wasn't written out in my head before I wrote it down, unlike ALL of my other stories


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Bold is past tense….um that is all :-D

Chapter 8

"**How d-do you g-get to your h-house?"**

Charlie stared at the phone his mouth hanging open and on the other end Alli was starting to regret saying she'd come over with every second of silence that passed. Don however was not that shocked and nudged his brother back into reality

"Oh, sorry to keep you waiting Alli, I sent my brother inside to get my laptop"

"Why d-do you need your laptop?" Alli hiccupped calming down slightly

"I want to give you good directions" Charlie spoke trying to sound convincing

"I'm sitting in front of 267 Fritz Ave" Alli said relieved to have finally stopped crying

"Ok, so catch the interstate, go down three exits and then get off on the fourth. Go down to the first light, make a left, go down three more lights and make a right. Continue straight four blocks and you're here"

"Will you wait outside for me?" Alli asked tentatively

"Of course"

"All right, be there soon" Alli said

"Ok, see you soon" Charlie said not really wanting to hang up but he lowered the phone to press end anyway

"Charlie!" Alli called out

"Yes?" Charlie replied putting the phone back to his ear

"Thank you" Alli said softly then ended the call

1234567890987654321123456789009876543211234567890

After twenty minutes of waiting out back both Charlie and Don decided to move to the front porch

"Charlie, I know that you're nervous already-" Don started saying after watching his brother pacing

"Am not" Charlie retorted STILL pacing

"Charlie, when you stand still I'll believe that" Don answered with a smirk on his face

"Shut up" Charlie grumbled

"Charlie, again, I already know that you're nervous but what are you exactly planning to do when she gets here?"

"Listen" Charlie answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world

"I gathered that but that's it? You made her drive all the way here to have her tell you about a fight and that's it?"

"Well what else do you want me to do Don? Seduce her?"

"No. I'm just saying maybe offer her a drink or two. Help her relax, maybe offer to put on a movie. It is Friday Charlie, you don't have classes tomorrow"

"Don, what you're implying means that she might spend the night. That's just not right Don"

"Charlie, what did I just say? You don't have to seduce her. I'm saying get her to relax. Unfortunately that may require a few alcoholic drinks, and those will impair her ability to drive. Also depending on what movie you choose it may be too late for her to drive back"

"Don, you've put way too much thought into this" Charlie said gawking at his brother like he planned this whole thing

"Charlie-" Don started to say before headlights fell over his frame. The boys watched in silence as Alli turned off the car and stepped out

"Hey Charlie" Alli called out timidly as she walked slowly towards the brothers

"Hey Alli" Charlie greeted and then the pair just looked at each other while Don wondered what the heck was going on. After a moment Don subtly coughed and brought them back to reality "Oh this is Don" Charlie mumbled gesturing next to him

"It is very nice to meet Don" Don spoke shaking Alli's hand while putting his charming smile

"You too" Alli replied the tension visibly draining away from her

"Alli, what do you say we grab some snacks and a drink, then we settle down in the solarium or outsideand you can tell me what happened?" Charlie said smiling

_Who can resist that smile? _"Sure" Alli replied giving her own tentative smile. Don observed all of this and made his own decision

"Hey buddy, I have to go" Don said smiling while attempting toslowly walkaway

"Don, you don't have to leave on my account. Please stay" Alli said trying to sound sincere and laying a hand on one of Don's arms

"You sure you don't mind? I don't want to intrude" Don hesitantly. He was always willing to listen but he didn't want to butt in on Charlie's time with Alli

"Of course not…unless Charlie you have a problem"

"Not a one" Charlie said smiling as he opened the door for Alli and Don. As Don walked by Charlie mouthed 'thank you'. As the group walked into the kitchen to get those aforementioned drinks, Alan happened to catch a glimpse of the group and wondered if he was seeing things when he counted a third person (who happened to be a woman)

_I think now is a good time to get that cup of water _"Hi boys…and who is this?" Alan asked when he spotted Alli, even though by supreme fatherly powers he could already guess who it was (AKA the look on Charlie's face)

"Hello I'm Allison Arlen" Alli spoke softly holding out a hand

"I'm Alan, Charlie and Don's father" Alan answered accepting her hand and giving her a big smile "Now, if you don't mind me, I will get a glass of water then return to finish my cross word puzzle"

"It was very nice to meet you" Alli said smiling back. _There's something about this family that puts me at ease…maybe its cause they don't judge my every move_

"So Alli, how about we grab those drinks and go upstairs…unless you'd rather sit outside"

"Outside if that's ok. It's a nice night out"

As the group moved outside, each wondered how long it would be before the others spoke

"I just want to apologize again for calling you" Alli said out of nowhere

"It's fine Alli. You obviously needed to talk to someone and it's absolutely acceptable that you called me" Charlie replied

"But I haven't actually told you anything" Alli spoke candidly

"And that's fine. Whenever you're ready to tell me, I'm ready to listen" Charlie said laying his hand on hers. Don, however, is silently observing the both of them

"Well let me start from the beginning" Alli said readying herself with a big breath and then she began her story.

A/N: Sorry for the abrupt ending but I thought it was a good place to end it, otherwise this chapter would have been ridiculously long


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"**Well let me start from the beginning" Alli said readying herself with a big breath and then she began her story…**

"It all started in my last year of college and well I was really shy, still am very shy, outside the classroom anyway" Alli let a small nervous chuckle escape. _I cant believe I'm telling them this _"So the shyness got in the way of making friends. I knew my roommates and that was about it.A few acquaintances here and there because they were music majors also but no real friends. That is until I met John" Alli paused as she smiled a small, sad smile

"He was my first boyfriend and he was so sweet and romantic. Well at least for the first year or so, then control issues slowly started to seep in. It started that he didn't like me going out wearing one of my less conservative outfits and him opening my mail. I hadn't thought anything of it- I mean I didn't know how to act he was my first boyfriend" Alli's voice broke and both Don and Charlie laid a hand on either of her arms in silent support

"It slowly got worse. He started demanding that the house be kept a certain way and that I tell him how I spent my money. He hit me a few times, always in places no one would be able to see. My legs, upper arms, back, stomach but he would immediately apologize after.The few times my sister and Zoë saw them, I said the bruises were from just being my clumsy self. I loved him what was I supposed to do?" Alli paused as the tears started to slowly fall. She took a deep breath, here was the hardest part, here was the part no one other then her family and Zoë knew

"One day, I actually think it was the day before our two year anniversary, he called the principal at the high school and got me fired. The next day when I got to work I found my stuff had been packed up. Me not knowing I was no longer employed there went to the principal, my boss, to see why. When I walked through the door, her face clouded with anger and I was almost immediately thrown out. She yelled at me, restating all the insulting and blood boiling words John had used to ensure that A) I was no longer employed and B) would not be rehired. Well, to say I was angry would be an understatement. I loved my job and he ended it for me. I immediately drove to John's work and demanded to see him. I stormed into his office and started screaming at him. I don't know what I was thinking. You would have thought that previous experience would have taught me to keep my mouth shut but no. John started yelling back, something about me being his and my place is at home and he lost it. He backhanded me so hard that I stumbled back and hit my head on his desk- hard. I lost consciousness. When I woke up in the hospital,a day or two had passedand he was gone. By the time the cops got involved he had taken all of his things from our apartment and fled" Alli was crying harder but she needed to finish "I'm s-so scared that o-one day h-he'll come back" After finally finishing Allison stopped fighting the tears and collapsed into sobs

"Shh, Alli, it's ok he's not here anymore" Charlie said pulling Alli towards him. Alli got out of her chair and sat on his lap, weeping on Charlie's shoulder. Don silently got up to retrieve some tissues and a glass of water for when Alli was finished crying all her tears

"I k-know t-that but I'm st-still scared" Alli choked out

"I know, I'm sorry Alli. It's ok, you're here now. You're safe" Charlie cooed slowly rocking her back and forth while stroking her back. After about ten minutes Alli's breathing evened out and Charlie knew she had fallen asleep. For about a moment Charlie sat there holding Alli, watching her chest rise and fall- then his foot started to tingle. _Crap, I need to move_. Charlie tried to get up but it was too difficult with nothing to push against. Just as Charlie was about to give up, Don quietly opened the door to the back "Don!" Charlie cried out as queitly as possible

"Charlie, what happened?" Don whispered back now observing the reason why they were whispering

"She cried herself to sleep. Don help me get out of the chair, I need to lay her out on a bed and my leg is falling asleep"

Don stood there muffling his laughter at the last part of Charlie's statement. Charlie stuck his tongue out at his brother then gave him a pleading look. Don rolled his eyes then put his hands behind Charlie so that when he starts to stand up Don could help push him the rest of the way. After Charlie was standing, he walked down to the koi pond and back to wake up his leg. Alli in the process curled up further against Charlie. After making sure that his leg wouldn't be weird anymore, Charlie headed inside.

"Charlie, what's happening?" Alan whispered after he saw his youngest enter with a sleeping woman in his arms

"In a minute Dad" Charlie responded then started up the stairs, careful to not bang Alli's head on the banister. When Charlie reached his bedroom he nudged the door open and stopped to observe. _Of course my bed is covered in books and papers...I could put her in Don's room, but he' s probably going to crash here tonight…I'm going to have to wipe those papers off…aw this is going to annoy me in the morning. _Charlie slowly walked to the bed, and with a small sigh, he quietly wiped all the books and papers to the floor with his foot then placed Alli softly down on the bed. Charlie started to leave but paused suddenly remembering that it might be more comfortable to remove her shoes, grateful that they were sandals. With one last look at Alli's sleeping form Charlie closed the door to let her rest.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is really kinda short but I figured that with Alli's confession it might be overload if I try to do too many things in one chapters

I also want to say something about her confession. Abuse is a very serious thing and I wrote the confession in attempts of making it a very serious thing. I don't know if it came across serious, if for some reason it didn't, I apologize now because I take abuse very seriously. It took a long time for this chapter to be written because of my internal debate on how to write and on whether or not I should write it, for fear of offending someone. Again I apologize if it offended anyone or if it came across as anything less the serious act that I take it to be.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Care to explain what just happened Charlie?' Alan questioned as is son came down the stairs

"To be honest, I have no clue dad"

"I find that hard to believe. How about you start with why she's here and then continue"

"Well, she came here because she got into a fight with her mother…which she never did tell us about"

"Charlie, still doesn't explain why she's upstairs sleeping in your bed" Alan commented crossing his arms, a sign for the boys that he wasn't going to drop the matter till he got what he wanted

"Well I guess to explain what the fight was about, she needed to give us the back round on the matter of the argument. Well, it was a very emotional tale and she ended up crying herself to sleep"

"May I ask what happened?"

"Hold on" Charlie spoke, than walked towards the staircase. He listened intently for a moment then decided there was no sound emanating from upstairs "She was abused by her ex boyfriend"

"That, that-" Alan stammered getting extremely worked up, trying to figure out how a man could ever do that to a woman

"Dad, breathe. Getting angry now won't help" Charlie commented laying a hand on his father's shoulder then dropping down onto the couch

"You still look like you have something on your mind" Don commented after a moment

"Yeah, it's just a little confusing" Charlie answered

"What is?" Don asked becoming confused himself

"It's just that…I don't know Alli. I mean this is only our third interaction, and she just told me what probably is one of her deepest secrets. I just don't understand why she told me. It just seems odd that we barely know each other and she's telling me how she was abused"

"Charlie, obviously she trusts you" Don answered sitting down next to his brother

"But I don't understand why. It seems like it's all too rushed" Don opened his mouth to answer, when the doorbell rang "Wonder who that is…" Charlie questioned as he approached the door. When he opened it, he saw the person he least expected (and maybe a little bit least wanted)- Amita

"Hey Charlie" Amita said timidly

"Hey, please come in" Charlie said holding the door open for his student. Amita walked in and smiled a greeting at Don and Alan but then stood there, saying nothing "Um Amita can I help you with something?" Charlie asked as politely as possible

"I just wanted to let you know that I got a letter in the mail today offering me a teaching position"

"Thats great" Charlie said smiling and giving Amita a hug. She however stiffened in his grip

"Charlie before you get too happy, its not at Calsci"

"Where is it?" Charlie asked his smile slipping a little

"Its at Harvard" Amita said not looking at Charlie. _Why is this so hard?_

"Harvard? As in Massachusetts Harvard? As in on the other side of the country?"

"Yeah Charlie, as in on the other side of the country" She stated letting a small, sad grin grace her face

"Well are you going to take it?" Charlie asked seemingly forgetting that there were other people in the room

"I don't know Charlie" Amita replied

"Well what is keeping you from making that decision? It's a good offer" Charlie spoke, already knowing the answer but he needs to hear it from her

"You, Charlie. The thing that's keeping me from making the decision is you"

"But-" Charlie started but then the soft footsteps on the stairs stopped him

"Charlie, I just-" Alli started but then looked up and saw that she was intruding. Amita, Charlie, and Alli all just stared at each other "Well, um I'm just going to go-"

"No, don't. I am apparently interrupting something, I will leave" Amita said straining to stay polite "Charlie I NEED to talk to you again soon" Amita whispered then gave a brief, tight wave to the remaining Eppes family (ignoring Alli) and turned on her heel and left

"I'm sorry Charlie, I'm just causing all kinds of grief for you tonight" Alli said as she nervously tugged at the bottom of her shirt

"Alli" Charlie spoke crossing the room "How many times do I have to tell you that I didn't care, that I still don't care?"

"It's just I feel like I burdened you with something you didn't need" Alli paused, swallowed hard and then began speaking quite rapidly "Charlie this is only the third time we've spoken and we don't really know each other and I just feel like I rushed telling you and it must be awkward for you and I'm sorry, I really need to stop staying I'm sorry, but I just wanted to apologize for dumping my problems on you and your very nice family and I'm just going to go now" Alli finished, took a breath, and went to run out the door but Don beat her there

"Alli, stop for a second, catch your breath" Don said softly turning her back around "You know you could give Charlie a run for his money talking that fast" Don added quietly enough for only her to hear. Alli let out a soft laugh

"You know Alli, I hate to bring this up, but you never did tell us what the fight was about" Charlie said tentatively

"Well my mother was worried that I was still emotionally attached to John" Alli stated like it was the only answer that could possibly be

"I believe that it is safe to assume that you don't?" Charlie asked tentatively. He didn't really know what to expect and he REALLY didn't know why

"Your assumptions would be correct" Alli replied giving Charlie a soft smile "You get it, I don't know why my family doesn't"

"As a parent, I assume your mother was speaking more out of fear then of anything else. She had seen you get hurt by this man, if you can call him that, before and she doesn't want to see it again. Although I'm also fairly certain that she must have worded it badly because Charlie just asked you essentially the same thing and you didn't even flinch" Alan finished with his immense wisdom

"She didn't even word it. She was unbelievably blunt and her tone was slightly condescending" Alli replied but she quickly added "But no more of talking about this, you've been so kind and I'm just burdening you with my problems, I'm sorry- and I just apologized again didn't I?" Everyone's response was just to laugh

"How about we watch a movie?" Charlie suggested after they recovered

"What time is it?" Alli asked sounding slightly depressed at the fact she may have to leave soon

"Ten twenty" Charlie answered after consulting his watch, depression seeping into his voice as well. Charlie found himself feeling the urge to not to let this night not end, to not let her leave

_I should probably go home, _Alli thought but then she began to argue with herself _Alli, come on! How long have you had a crush on this guy? You finally have the opportunity to spend some nice quality with him, and his very nice family, and you're going to throw it all out of the window? _"What movies do you have?" Alli asked and Charlie let go of a breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding

A/N: I hope this is coherent cause I wrote a good portion of this tonight and its kinda late at night and I haven't had much sleep the past few nights so kinda tired.

I hope some believableity issues were addressed, I also hope that this chapter is enough to tide you over for a little while because not only is my life going to get busy for the next two weeks (I promise to spend as much free time as I have on this) but there are two places I can take this story in the next pending chapter (which is already partially written) and I've gotten equal feedback on which way and well I don't know which way to take it because this is a vital chapter and a turning point for the plot and I have them both mapped out and I don't know which one and did I mention I'm writing late at night with very little sleep?


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I just realized that I should probably change the rating to T just for all the talk of murder, rape and abuse (never thought that I'd be saying that)…that and don't ask me what movie they watched cause honestly I have no clue

Chapter 11

"I can't believe that ending" Alli stated stretching while watching the credits roll

"Yeah, I didn't see it coming the first time I saw it either" Don replied stretching himself, though his stretch was accompanied with a groan

"What time is it?" Charlie asked while yawning

"One in the morning" Don answered after staring at his watch, trying to focus (_I really shouldn't have had that extra beer_)

"But we started at ten twenty, wasn't the movie only like two hours long?" Alli asked to no one in particular

"We debated about what movie to watch and then we had snack break and bathroom break" Alan replied standing "Now if you don't mind, I will be going to sleep"

"Night dad, good night Mr. Eppes" The brothers and Alli (respectively) replied in unison

"Goodnight all" Alan called from his place in the stairs "See you in the morning" (as he continued up he couldn't help wondering if it was a good thing or not that he had bought that extra case of beer the day before)

"Speaking of which…kinda…I should get going" Alli said attempting to stand but the few beers that she had drank on an practically empty stomach not so long ago impaired her ability

"You missy are going nowhere" Don proclaimed "If you can't stand then you can't drive"

"Where am I going to sleep then? In my car?" Alli replied

"Don't be silly, we have a guest room upstairs" Charlie spoke with his almost completely sober voice

"But, I should…you really don't mind if I sleep in the guest room?" Alli finished

"No, I don't mind, that's what guest rooms are for" Charlie replied

"But what about Don? If I can't drive, then there is no way he can drive and if he can't drive then he has to stay here and if he stays here then where precisely is he going to sleep?" Alli finished by collapsing into the couch behind her

"He'll take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch down here" Charlie said a matter of factly

"Well ok then" Alli agreed then started walking slowly but very crooked toward the stairs

"Um, I should go help her" Charlie said rushing to the stairs in fear that Alli would fall down

"Yeah, I think you should" Don agreed his speech slightly slurred

Charlie nodded his head in agreement and proceeded to follow Alli up the stairs, his arms stretched out the whole way in case he needed to catch the inebriated Alli. Alli, after reaching the tops of the stairs, boldly took a few steps down the hall only to realize that she didn't know which room was the guest room. She turned around only to walk straight into Charlie

"I was just going downstairs to get you" Alli said smiling

Charlie paused, wanting to ask if she really didn't realize that he was behind her on the trip upstairs but settled for "Well don't bother cause I'm not there"

Alli laughed at the bad joke, whether out of drunkenness or not, was beyond Charlie's comprehension "Charlie, which room is mine for the night?" Alli asked stumbling forward a little more

"The one at the very end of the hall" Charlie said taking her arm to guide her. They started off well enough. Alli was walking at quite a normal pace but after a moment she slowed "Alli? There are more doors-"

"Charlie-bathroom-I think I'm going to be sick" Alli said hurriedly while holding up a hand to her mouth. Charlie reacted quickly while thanking God (or whoever was up there) that they happened to have stopped in front of the bathroom, and got Alli to the toilet just in time. After Alli finished paying homage to her own God (a porcelain one), Charlie turned to get a cup of water so that Alli could wash her mouth out but when he turned back from the sink she had already fallen asleep

"Poor Alli" Charlie remarked as he again glanced over her sleeping form. He bent down and cradled Alli to him, wondering how after only speaking twice before (and one of those times, quite briefly) he was suddenly carrying Alli to his bed for the second time that night. With a soft sigh Charlie turned of the lights, walked down the hallway and descended the stairs "Hey Don, when you go to crash, go to the guest room" Charlie called out when he reached halfway, but he got no response "Don?" Charlie called out again walking towards the couch "Don?" Charlie tried one more time when he was next to the couch but it was to no avail- Don was asleep too "Well at least I wont be the one waking up with the aching back tomorrow"

123456789098765432123456789098765432123456789098765432123456789098765432

_**Alli walked down the hallway…there was no color…'am I really where I think I am?'…Alli turned the corner and entered her old kitchen…"Charlie is that you?" Alli spoke…the man turned around…it was Charlie…"Alli, you have to get out of here" Charlie said holding his hand to the side of his stomach, "What are you talking about?", "Alli please just go-" Charlie's voice was laced with pain…he turned towards the sink and grasped it….Alli thought she saw red on his hands…"Charlie what's wrong?" Alli said gently turning him towards her and away from the sink…"Alli please go" Charlie choked out…he looked down at his stomach…so did Alli…a small patch of red was rapidly growing bigger…"You need help"…she rushed forward…"No! Go! Please before he kills you too"…he slid to the floor…his breathing became more shallow…his eyes glossed over…"Who did this?" Alli demanded…a few tears slipped from her eyes…"J-John" Charlie replied softly…he stopped breathing…"CHARLIE!" Alli screams…her tears start to fall…"You're actually crying over that, that math geek"….Alli whipped around…it was John who spoke…'he has a gun in his hand, he really shot Charlie'…"Speak when you're spoken to woman"…"John why him?", "HE WAS WITH MY WOMAN!" John screamed…he pointed the gun at her…"J-John please"…she was beyond scared now…"Too late for begging, you ruined my life when you walked out", "John please", "SHUT UP!"…he slapped her…Alli's hand flew to her cheek…her tears fell freely now…"Alli, I'll give you a chance- come home with me now", "I-I'm s-sorry John I c-can't"…anger flashed across his face "Whore!"…he his her again…this time it barely registered with her…Ali chanced a glance at Charlie…his eyes were open…his stare held sorrow, like he was sorry he couldn't save Alli…her hand hit something wet…Charlie's blood…her stomach turned…"ALLISON!" John shouted…she looked back at John…"Do you love him?" John asked…Alli stayed silent…she doesn't know the answer even if she wanted to tell him…"DO YOU LOVE HIM!" John screamed…he pointed his gun…Alli closed her eyes…"Alli, I'm giving you one more chance"…She opened her eyes…she looked at Charlie and -for some reason- she felt a strange sense of peace…she looked back at John…"Goodbye John"…"Goodbye Alli"….and he pulled the trigger…she felt the bullet hit…or at least she thought it was a bullet…**_

"Alli! Alli! Wake up! Its just a nightmare" Charlie explained shaking her. Alli woke up but didn't open her eyes. For a second she forgot everything that was in her dream but then it all came rushing back: she had been shot and Charlie had been killed and it was all her fault. She started sobbing

"Ch-Charlie you died…J-John killed you, h-he killed me…I'm s-so sorry" Alli felt arms envelope her and she cried his shoulder, holding onto him like a life line

"It's ok, I'm here now, he cant hurt you. It wasn't real, I'm fine and you're fine" Charlie whispered into her hair

"But it felt so real" Alli said turning her head to look at him. The look in her eyes broke Charlie's heart

"It-wasn't-real" Charlie said firmly "Now lie down, you need to get some sleep" Alli opened her mouth to protest "I'll stay here till you fall asleep" Charlie smiled a small smile and Alli felt herself returning it. She lay down to sleep, feeling safe knowing Charlie was right beside her


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Morning dad, Mornin' Don" Charlie said between yawns as he entered the dining room

"Morning buddy" Don responded. Alan just handed his son a cup of coffee and a plate of food with a large smile then returned to the kitchen to finish cooking

"What was that about?" Charlie whispered to Don as he sat down across his brother to better savor his coffee

"He saw that Alli's car is still in the driveway" Don answered smiling into his cup of coffee

"That doesn't mean anything and you know it" Don only smiled wider. Charlie just sighed "How's the case going?" Charlie asked tentatively

"Were kinda stuck for the moment" Don paused "How's the um data analysis going?"

"It should be done, thank you for reminding me. Maybe after breakfast we can swing by the campus and get the results"

"You read my mind" Don answered

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890987654321

Alli gingerly arose from her first restful sleep in awhile. The room around her had a familiar air about it but she couldn't quite place why it was so familiar. She slowly cracked one eye open and then she remembered: she was in Charlie's bed and had been for about eight hours (or at least that's what the clock said). She rolled over and inhaled the scent of Charlie on the pillow. _Wait what am I doing? I cant get involved with Charlie! It wouldn't be fair to him. How could I have even considered another relationship when I'm still having nightmares involving John? Oh forget this! I should go downstairs before they wonder what's taking me so long_. Alli got out of bed but couldn't help taking one stroll around the room, trying not to knock over any piles of anything. As she passed the dresser, she took special notice of a picture of Charlie and Don in graduation gowns. After regretting having to leave what now feels like a sanctuary, she grabbed her shoes and followed her nose to the kitchen

"Morning boys, Mr. Eppes" Alli greeted, then paled slightly at the mixed scent of all the food. She never got a hangover headache, just nausea so bad she wondered why she didn't stop drinking after the first time

"Morning Alli" Charlie replied. Don waved (he was in the middle of drinking coffee)

"Hope you're hungry" Alan said placing a large plate of food in front of Alli. Alli smiled gratefully but the moment Alan was out of sight her smile turned to a grimace

"If I say no what would he do?" She asked Charlie under her breath

"Make you eat it anyway" He replied with a smile, finding it a little odd how much he likes the fact that now Alli smells like him

"Smells delicious" Alli called into the dining room while still grimacing

"Put some food on my plate and some on Don's then try to eat a little, that way it'll look like you made a dent in your food" Charlie said nudging his plate over, Don mirroring him

"You serious?" Alli asked a little too loud

"Shh, not if you take too long. Come on" Charlie said shoveling some food onto his plate, Don helped himself to a piece of toast and half and egg

"Hungry were you?" Alan asked walking in a minute later, surveying Alli's plate

"Famished" Alli replied. As the group fell silent while they ate, Alli found herself replaying the night with Charlie. _How am I supposed to know when I'm ready for a new relationship? I don't think I'll ever be able to fully rest until I know what's happened to John. Oh god I hate him! He's not in my life anymore and he's still ruining it._

"Alli?" Charlie said breaking her out of her reverie

"Yes?" She asked blushing slightly at Charlie catching her in what he probably thought was a day dream

"Your cell phone is ringing" Charlie said politely pointing to her purse that was resting on the table near the house's entrance

"Oh, thank you" Alli said rushing to pick it up

"Ok, you're going to tell me why I had to just swear to your very worried mother and sister that your at my house" Zoë explained relatively calmly into the phone

"Hi Zo" Alli replied rolling her eyes then walking back to the table

"Don't hi Zoë me, I don't like lying to your mom, I swear she knows when I'm lying"

"Zoë, is there a reason why you called?" Alli asked politely

"Yes, I want to know where the hell you are" Zoë replied anger creeping into her voice

"I'm…at a friends house" Alli replied vaguely looking at Charlie. Charlie just raised an eyebrow and took another sip of his coffee

"Do I know this person?" Zoë said curiosity replacing anger

"Maybe…maybe not" Alli enjoyed teasing Zoë, it was a rarity that she could

"Alli!" Zoë yelled into the receiver

"What? How about I meet you at the park in a half an hour and we can talk all about it"

"Fine, I'll see you then" Zoë answered the frustration apparent in her voice

"Bye darling, love you too" Alli cooed, then hung up

"You have to go?" Don asked eying how Alli was chugging her orange juice

"Yeah I have to meet my best friend Zoë, explain why she had to lie and tell my mother I was at her house"

"Well it was lovely having you, feel free to drop by" Alan said taking her plate and cup for her

"Thank you so much Mr. Eppes for breakfast, it was delicious"

"You're welcome"

"I'll walk you to your car" Charlie offered standing

"Thank you. It was so very nice to meet you Don" Alli said giving Don a brief hug

"It was very nice to meet you to" Don said giving her the smile he knew made women melt, _Oh yeah Charlie and Don are definitely brothers. _The pair walked out of the door, remembering at the last second to grab her bag, and reluctantly finished the journey to her car

"You have everything?" Charlie asked as Alli rolled down the window

"Yeah, don't worry if I'm missing anything I'll call you"

"Alright. You going to be ok getting there?" Charlie practically blurted, he suddenly didn't want her to leave

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks Charlie for…everything" Alli said blushing slightly

"Your welcome, any time. I'll see you Friday at your class?"

"Till Friday" She replied smiling, then feeling impulsive gave him a kiss on the cheek and pulled off to leave Charlie holding his hand to his cheek and waving goodbye quite weakly

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890987654321

A/N: Ok, here's the tough part: you have to let me know if you want me to keep writing. I sense I've lost my audience, and I'm leaving for college in a week. Now, that I'll be in college I know that I won't have a lot of free time and I'd rather not spend it working on a story that no one wants to read. I just need to know if you want me to continue.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Ok so maybe I didn't completely lose my audience…Thank you all for sticking with it. I'm getting settled here at college so it'll be a little slow (well a lot slow but hopefully you don't mind waiting)…anyway on with the story (finally)

Chapter 13

"Hey Charlie, are you ready to go?" Don called from the living room

"In-in a minute" He mumbled in response while stumbling upstairs

"What happened to him?" Alan asked glancing up the staircase

"I'll go find out" Don responded hesitantly then followed Charlie's lead by stumbling up the staircase. When Don reached the door he knocked lightly and entered

"Don, I'll be ready in a second" Charlie called over his shoulder while rushing to gather supplies he'd need to work on the case

"Take you're time buddy" Don spoke watching his little brother flying around the room. After a moment of silence, Don finally got up the courage to say something to Charlie "Hey, um, Charlie, can I ask you something?"

"Sure Don" Charlie answered while spinning in a circle in attempts of finding a file, Don had to fight back a laugh

"Did something happen before Alli left?" Don asked and marveled at how Charlie IMMEDIATELY stopped moving

"Why-why would you say that?" Charlie stuttered

"Cause you're stuttering now and you were stuttering before" Don said with a smirk, obviously enjoying his brother's discomfort

"Nothing major happened, Don" Charlie said brushing past Don and out into the hallway

"So you do admit that something happened?" Don stated following after his brother

"Donald please, can we just pick up the work?" Snapped Charlie but he didn't really sound mad, just frustrated

"Wow, buddy what happened?" Don asked as his brother practically ran out of the house. Alan raised an eyebrow, Don just waved and followed. Charlie was already next to the car door waiting. Don stood there watching his brother

"Don, please drop it and just open the door" Charlie said practically pleading

"It bothers you that much to tell me?" Don asked relenting and unlocking the doors

"It's just I don't want you to jump to conclusions" Charlie said and then (judging by the look on Don's face) regretted saying anything

"Now you really have to tell me" Don said crossing his arms refusing to start the car. Charlie gave Don his puppy dog eyes, Don just shook his head

"Alli just gave me a kiss on the cheek and then sped off" Don opened his mouth to comment but Charlie continued on "I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid that you would jump to the conclusion that she likes me. It may have only been a small thank you for everything we did" Charlie said looking down praying that the car would start and that his brother would drop the subject. He only got half his prayers answered when Don started the car

"Charlie, what do you mean by 'we'? I didn't do anything. You were the one that let her come over to the house, you were the one that listened, and you were the one that carried her to your bed- twice. Charlie, she likes you, why are you still struggling with this concept?"

"Because it means that now I have to choose between her and Amita" Charlie exclaimed before he could stop himself. Don just patiently waited for his brother to continue "How do I choose Don? Allison logically seems like the right choice: she was never my student, she's my age, she's not moving to Harvard-"

"-But you just can't forget Amita" Don finished for his brother

"Am I over thinking this? I mean, am I reading into something that isn't there? Because I don't want to wrack my brain over something when that isn't necessary"

"I don't know whether or not it's good or bad but you aren't wracking your brain over something that isn't necessary. They both do like you"

"I was afraid you were going to say that" Charlie said slumping down in his seat. Don just rolled his eyes, turned on the radio and decided he was going to let Charlie think. After a relatively quiet ride the brothers arrived at the sprawling campus.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Don asked as he unlocked the doors

"No, it shouldn't take me long" Charlie responded opening the door. He stepped out, turned to walk down to his office, and then turned back to Don "Come to think of it, if I'm not back in fifteen minutes, come get me"

"Will do" Don responded then rested his head against the head rest. Charlie just smirked as he remembered just how Don drank before walking away to get his notes.

12345678909876543212345678909876543212345678909876543212345678909876543

As Charlie opened the door to his office, he was quite startled when the figure sitting in his chair stirred

"Amita?" Charlie asked timidly recognizing her hair

"Charlie" Amita replied standing up and stretching largely

"Amita, not that I don't enjoy seeing you-" Charlie paused to give her a large smile "-but why are you here?"

"I swung by because I had to drop off papers for Larry and I figured I'd stop to see if you were here. I sat down a minute because my feet hurt, I closed my eyes and I guess I fell asleep"

"Oh ok" Charlie said approaching the desk to collect the work that he had done for Don "What are you up to today?" Charlie asked being polite but consciously keeping track of home much time he had left before Don came to get him

"Just eating with a friend" Responded Amita, suddenly not being able to look at him. _Maybe that's because every time I do I see Professor Arlen walking down the stairs_

"Sounds like you have a nice day planned out" Charlie replied tapping his fingers on the case file

"Yeah, I hope it is" Amita to Charlie's desk. _She's chewing her lip _Charlie thought _that means she's thinking about something…probably what she walked in on last night, what did she walk in on last night? _Charlie took another step forward deciding that he needed to at least attempt to address this. When he got close enough he reached out and tilted Amita's head while softly asking "What are you thinking about?"

Amita looked into his eyes for a moment before twisting away, willing away the tears that suddenly seemed threatening to fall "You" She replied as one solitary tear fell

"Amita-" Charlie started before he heard his brother calling to him down the hall

"We'll talk about this later" Amita said while wiping the tear away, standing and gathering her things

"Amita-" Charlie tried again reaching out to her as she walked by

"Later Charlie" She said brusquely while walking out of the room. Don entered as she left, getting a stiff passing wave

"What's going on with her?" Don asked as he walked in

"Don, you saw what happened last night. She came over to talk about her possibly taking the job in Harvard- then she saw Alli. We were going to talk about it now but then we both heard you coming down the hall, so we're going to talk about it later" Charlie said looking forlornly at his brother

"I'm sorry this is so hard buddy" Don wrapped his arm around his brother "And to think of all the years without a girlfriend- now two possibilities show up at the same time" Don barely flinched as Charlie punched him in the arm

"Let's just get down to the office" Charlie spoke while trying not to smile. _I'm in the middle of a crisis, leave it up to Don to make fun of me AND make me feel better at the same time_

A/N: I promise there will be A LOT more to deal with the case in the next chapter…sorry again about the long pauses between postings, college tends to leave me with a lot less free time then I had thought


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I'm ba-ack! I know it took forever and a day but between school and my muse deciding to leave me, it needed to take this long

I just hope I didn't lose my audience…eek!

Chapter 14

"Charlie, man, tell me that you have something for us" David said by way of greeting to the youngest Eppes.

"I have something for you" Charlie responded smiling while walking into an empty conference room, save for his brother

"Thank God" David Sinclair said collapsing into a chair next to the already seated Don

"Hey guys, anyone care to bring me up to speed" Colby Granger responded suddenly appearing

"Colby, just in time- as always" Commented Megan giving her friend a little squeeze on the shoulder as she passed to take her seat "We were just about to hear the solution Charlie has for our current case"

"Darn, we have a major case?" Colby asked taking the case folder that David slid toward him after collapsing into a chair "I haven't even been back from vacation for twenty four hours"

"Well hopefully, you won't have to worry about it" Charlie said addressing the room (more than just Colby) "I did a pattern analysis and discovered something that I thought might be a clue- they all visited this building in the last week leading up to…" Charlie trailed off as he glanced at the images he had on the screen: the four victims and then building in which they had all visited "Well, they were all at this building"

"I thought we checked that angle" David supplied with a confused look on his face

"We did. Are you sure buddy?" Don asked. Charlie, however, just glared at him for accusing his math of being wrong "Thanks buddy" Don said standing up and clapping his brother on the back "Ok- David, Megan you two go to the building. Colby start pulling up employee lists and cross referencing, see if there are any names on more then one list"

"So how did we miss this?" David asked shaking his head while standing to gather his coat

"I don't know" Megan replied passing by "I'm just glad that Charlie caught it"

12345678909876543212345678909876543212345678909876543212345678909876543

"Hello Charles" Larry greeted as he entered Charlie's office

"Hey Larry, what are you doing here on this fine Saturday?" Charlie asked then finished writing the sequence of numbers on the chalkboard

"I should be asking you the same" Larry quipped than seated himself in the chair behind Charlie's desk

"I am here because I need to get some lesson plans done. You, sir, however have not answered the question of why you are here" Charlie responded. Larry was silent for a moment then quietly asked

"Charles, may I borrow your brain for a moment?"

"Of course Larry" Charlie said replied taking seat on his desk

"I wanted to ask you if you knew what was going with Amita" Larry inquired. Charlie's eyes went wide

"Why? How is she acting?"

"She seems to be a little short tempered but also quite sullen" Larry replied. He studied his friend for whom he's known for seventeen years "What did you do to her?"

"Ugh. I didn't do anything to her…directly"

"Charles" Larry used his warning voice, the one Charlie knew so well back in Princeton

"Well, I got a phone call from Alli" And Charlie noting Larry's confusion corrected "Professor Allison Arlen"

"Oh the one you ran over"

"Hush. You asked, I'm telling" Larry held up both hands as a sign of surrender "So I got a phone call last night and she was upset- she had gotten into a fight with her mother. So, I boldly gave her the option of explaining to me why she was upset over the phone or in person"

"You invited her to your house?!"

"Yes, I did! However, if you want me to finish anytime soon you have to be quiet. So I was surprised that I asked and even more surprised that she accepted. She was at my house within forty minutes. She gave up some of her…history to explain why the fight with her mother was so rough. Well, that recount got her upset and she cried herself to sleep. I couldn't very well leave her outside, so I carried her upstairs to my room. I was just explaining what happened to my inquisitive father when there was a knock at the door"

"Amita" Larry supplied as things started clicking into place

"Yeah, Amita. She came to tell that she had gotten a teaching position as Harvard" Charlie paused here as it sunk in all over again "The thing that's keeping her from making the decision is me apparently and she wanted to talk to me about it. Unfortunately, that was the moment that Alli decided to wake back up and come downstairs. Amita looked horrified for a moment. She stressed that she needed to talk to me still and then kinda stormed out"

"Oh Charles" Larry commented

"Alli looked like she was so uncomfortable. To make matters worse, I'm finding myself more and more attracted to her"

"How does that make matters worse?" Larry asked quite perplexed

"Well, it makes it harder to choose. Allison is so not like any other girl I've liked. However, I can't forget Amita just like that. She's going to Harvard and she's waiting on me…Larry, I've waited so long to have the opportunity to be with Amita and now that it's here…"

"There's another woman and if you don't chose Amita…"

"I'll lose her for three years- at the very least" Charlie said sighing

"I'm sorry Charles" Larry said comfortingly while laying a hand on his friend's shoulder

"Yeah me too"

12345678909876543212345678909876543212345678909876543212345678909876543

"Explain…now" Zoë exclaimed as she watched Alli sheepishly approach her

"I swear I have a good explanation" Alli said falling onto the bench next to Zoë

"And that would be?" Zoë queried

"I was with Charlie" Alli answered then braced herself for her friend's inevitable outburst

"OH MY GOD!" Zoë screamed causing a woman walking by with her child to become startled

"Shh! Could you have been more loud?" Alli hissed gesturing wildly

"Of course I could get louder but no changing the topic! You HAVE to spill! Come on give it up woman"

"So, I went home for dinner last night and Rachael started pestering me with questions about my day because I hesitated when she asked me the first time. I caved and told them about Charlie and my hesitancy to start a relationship with him. Then my mom asked me if-if I was still hung up on John" Zoë made a sound of anger but remained silent so to let Alli finish "I stormed out of the house and cried in my car. I tried you but you were busy. Then I tried Charlie before I thought about it. He asked me what was wrong. He sounded so protective and concerned for me that that I lost it- again. He told me that I can either tell him why I was upset over the phone or to drive over to his house and tell him there"

"Aw!...sorry continue" Zoë gestured then put her hand over her mouth

"So I decided that I was going to go to his house. When I got there, it felt…right. His brother is so sweet and his father is definitely a charmer too. I was relaxed instantly. Maybe that's why I told them about John. When I reached the end, I was crying. I- wow, I still can't believe I did that- I climbed on his lap and ended crying myself to sleep. When I woke up I was in his room"

"He carried you to his bed?! That is so…romantic"

"Yeah, it was. However, when I walked downstairs I saw that he was speaking with another woman who seemed VERY displeased to see me. I think that woman was Amita"

"Ouch"

"Yeah, so needless to say I was uncomfortable. I attempted to leave but Don caught me at the door and brought me back towards where everyone had gathered. After reassuring me, Charlie invited me to stay for a movie…and a few beers. So I ended up getting a little intoxicated and it was proclaimed I was unfit to drive, so I stayed the night. On my way to the bedroom however, I may have gotten sick and passed out on the toilet"

"Oh, Alli" Zoë managed to get out before she erupted in laughter

"Yeah well anyway, before I passed out I remember that Charlie held my hair" Alli paused a moment "I had a nightmare in the middle of the night. I was back at my old house and John had gotten in. H-he shot and killed Charlie, then shot me" Alli shuddered at the remembrance of feeling Charlie's blood on her hands, Zoë laid a hand on her friends shoulder and urged her to continue "What I thought was me getting shot was actually Charlie shaking me awake because he somehow heard me in the throws of the nightmare. He soothed me and stayed with me until I was asleep again. When I woke up I was hung over. Don and Charlie split my breakfast, then you called and I left" Alli made the quick decision to not mention the kiss she gave Charlie (even if it was only on the cheek)

"I'm being completely serious when I say that it sounds like you've found yourself a good one"

"Yeah, I have. The thing is though- I really think that he has this BIG thing for the girl Amita"

"And your point is?" Zoë asked

"That if it comes down to a choice between her and me, I don't know if he'd want to be with me"

"Now who's getting ahead of themselves" Zoë pointed out recalling her friend's words from the day before

"Well it is a thought. I've wanted to be with him for so long, I don't know if I want to get closer to him if I can't be with him"

"Yes you do. You've dreamed about being close to him. I know that you're unsure about all of this but just think, if he was this caring and kinda romantic and you weren't dating think what it's going to be like when you do"

"Oh Zoë" Alli replied then Zoë gave her a big bear hug

A/N: Ok so lame ending but meh, I needed to study for my last final. Review because it makes me happy inside (ok and on the outside too)


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I can't find the words to express how sorry I am that it took this long for me to update. I just couldn't figure how to progress to the next stage- I finally figured it out.

Chapter 15

"So what did you find?" Don asked as David wearily returned to the office

"Nothing much. It took a good hour or two to find who worked where and why they worked there. All the coworkers that we spoke with said that they had all been to work that day. There was nothing out of the ordinary" David responded dragging himself to the cubicle. _Where these headaches come from -I'll never know._

"Crap" Don exclaimed hitting himself of the head. _How could we forget…_

"What's wrong?" David asked returning to Don's work space downing Advil as he went

"Did we think to ask about the little girl? She was ten, she wouldn't have been at that office building unless by some miracle her school is in there"

"Don't worry Don, we got it covered. Megan is heading over to speak to the parents"

"Thanks David. I'm glad that at least your brains are fully functioning" Don commented then turned back to the monitor

123456789098765432123456789098765432123456789098765432123456789

"Mr. and Mrs. Kidman?" Megan asked softly as the door opened to reveal a man, and a woman standing not far away

"Yes, may I help you?" The man asked, his voice faltering a little

"Hello, I'm special agent Megan Reeves from the FBI. I'm here to talk to you about your daughter" She responded just as softly as before

"Did you find him? Did you find the bastard that…that hurt my baby girl?" The woman demanded anger washing away the greif that had been on her face only moments before

"Hush Sarah, let the agent speak" The husband, Henry, quieted his wife and then led them all into the living room

"Thank you for seeing me" Megan replied sounding stronger "We have found a connection between the victims, your daughter included, but I fail to understand how"

"What do mean?" Harry asked forcing the words out

"We found a connection that all ties to a building comprised of businesses in Glendale. The building is located on" Megan paused a moment to consult her notebook for the address "115 North Brand Boulevard. Does that mean anything to either of you?" Megan asked flipping to a new page in her notebook and taking a pen out

"Yes, it does" Sarah answered, her eyes getting wide "Hannah's dance studio is-was on the fourth floor"

"That's good. Did you ever notice anyone that didn't quite seem to belong there?" Megan asked placing a comforting hand on top of already clasped hands of Mr. and Mrs. Kidman

"Sometimes the um janitor would get there before the class ended. He watched the kids and sometimes his gaze just didn't seem to be appropriate"

"That's very good. Do you know his name?" Megan asked trying to hide the slight excitement she was feeling at finding a possible lead

"It was Vincent West, I think"

"That's great. You've been very helpful" Megan spoke while standing to leave "I'll let you know if anything comes up" With that Megan turned around and quickly left the house whose air was thick with grief

"Agent Reeves" Sarah called just as Megan reached the door. Megan took a deep breath and turned around

"Yes?"

"Thank you Agent. Find whoever this is soon, I don't want anyone else to have to go through what we are"

Megan just gave her a tight nod, with a sad but hopefully reassuring smile and then left promising herself, with all she was, to do exactly what Mrs. Sarah Kidman asked.

123456789098765432123456789098765432123456789098765432123456789

"Hello Charles" Greeted Larry entering the office of a slightly frazzled looking Charlie

"Hey Larry" He responded sounding as though he wasn't all there

"Still stressing over your woman?" Larry asked sitting across from his friend. As bad as he felt he had to admit to himself he was withdrawing a little entertainment from it because these things never happened to people like him and Charlie

"Am I that obvious?" Charlie asked placing his head on his desk. Larry opened his mouth to respond when there was a knock on the door- it was Alli

"Hi Charlie" She greeted with a shy smile "May I come in?" She asked equally as shy

"Of course, let me clean off a chair for you" Charlie said leaping to his feet. Larry had to stifle a laugh

"Thank you" She said relaxing slightly. Larry coughed politely while Charlie and Alli seemed to be struggling to think of something to say

"Oh, sorry Larry. Alli this is Dr. Larry Fleinhardt, Larry this is Professor Allison Arlen"

"Very nice to meet you my dear" Larry said shaking her hand

"It's nice to meet you to. What do you teach here at Calsci?" Alli asked curiously

"I am a professor in the physics department" Larry answered proudly

"I am so out of my league in here" Alli answered laughing softly

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked already sensing the answer though

"Hmm, I'm sitting in the office of an world renown mathematician and who must be a brilliant physicist, and I am simply a music professor"

"I promise we will try to refrain from too much math or physics topics but there is an abundant amount of the material involving music" Charlie answered

"Charlie-" Alli started before a loud shrill sound resonated through the office- the fire alarm "Ah, I hate that sound!"

"Come on, we have to get out" Larry said rising. Charlie and Alli followed him quickly. However, when the three got halfway down the hall they both realized they forgot something (Alli- her purse, Charlie- laptop) in the office.

"We'll be back in a second Larry" Charlie called taking Alli's and fighting their way through the crowd

"Meet me by fountain" Larry called toward them. Charlie raised his hand and gave Larry a thumbs up as they continued on. It took a bit of work and many explanations as to why they were heading the wrong way before they finally reached Charlie's office.

"That was a pain" Charlie said walking around his movable chalkboard and towards his closet to get his laptop bag "Did you grab your purse?" Charlie asked turning back around and rifling through his bag. Alli didn't answer "Alli? Did you get your-"

The words died on Charlie's lips because as he turned and came out from behind the chalkboard he saw something that involuntarily stopped his heart: A man wearing a mask had Alli- and had a gun pointed at her head

"Just clam down. No one needs guns here" Charlie said slowly and clearly

"SHUT UP!" The man shouted. Alli was slowly starting to cry.

"Ok. Here, take my laptop, I don't care. J-just leave her alone" Charlie begged leaving one hand raised while pushing his laptop toward the armed robber with the other. _Please just don't let him hurt Alli_.

"I said shut up! I'm not here to steal anything. I'm here for you two" The man replied his malicious smile still apparent through his mask

"Just calm down. You don't want to do this"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I DO AND DO NOT WANT TO DO!" The man shouted momentarily pointing the gun at Charlie then returning it to Alli's temple. Charlie was almost as scared as he's ever been in his life. Not only was his life in danger but so was the life of someone he was beginning to care a lot about. When Charlie opened his mouth to try to negotiate and calm the man down again he heard the only thing that could make this situation worse- Amita's voice.

"Charlie!" She called turning into his office. She was presumably here checking to make sure Charlie had left with the rest of the building. Amita's eyes went wide at the scene before her and before Charlie could think about what he was doing he shouted-

"Amita run!" Amita turned to run but the man shouted-

"Run and I'll shoot them both" She froze in her tracks "That wasn't very smart professor" The masked man commented putting his hand causing Alli to let out a whimper

"No!" Charlie called out. The man smiled his malicious smile again but took his finger off of the trigger "Please...what do you want?" Charlie asked again

"I told you that I wanted you two but now that she's here my work has been done for me"

"What are you talking about?" Charlie shouted losing his temper. The masked man ignored him and told Amita to stand with Alli. Amita, with a look of disgust on her face for the man, joined her.

"Now stay there" He ordered as he walked around the corner of the desk to stand within a foot of Charlie "You got greedy professor and you got nosy"

"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked. A quick glance over at the women found Alli to be shaking with fear and Amita, holding her hand, fear apparent on her face.

"Your brother started poking his nose in my business and I know that you helped him. So, I did some poking of my own" He paused and walked to stand beside Charlie on his other side "They're both pretty women, Charles…too bad one of them is going to have to die"

Then the masked man hit Charlie on the back of the head with the butt of his gun and Charlie's world went black.

123456789098765432123456789098765432123456789098765432123456789

A/N: I hope no one saw that coming. Review and I'll get the next chapter up without letting almost three months lapse (oh my god! I'm so sorry- it'll be a miracle if anyone's reading this right now) in between updates.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Charlie awoke to a headache and someone tapping his cheek.

"Charles? Charles? Wake up Charles!" Called Larry to his friend. Charlie groaned and tried to sit up but Larry promptly stopped him "No, stay down for a moment. What happened? You never came back out…where's Allison?" Larry asked calmly.

At the mention of Allison's name Charlie stirred into action. He sprung up and quickly regretted it. After Larry's steadying hand, Charlie made to run out of the door but Larry stopped him "Charles, tell me what happened?" Larry guided his pale friend into the chair…that was when Larry seemed to notice Charlie was bleeding "Oh my…Charlie you're bleeding!"

"Yeah, he hit me" Charlie replied sullenly but the panic was slowly rising in his head

"He who?" Larry asked looking around for something to stave off the bleeding

"The man who t-took Alli and Amita" Charlie replied fighting off Larry's attempt and trying to stand "I need to get to Don"

"You need to slow down AND you need to get your head checked out" Larry said grabbing Charlie's arm

"No, Larry I don't know if I-"

"Charles, if you don't take care of yourself, whatever you hope the outcome of this situation is won't matter because you'll be in the hospital"

"Larry-"

"No Charles, go to the medical complex and get them to do…something and I will call Don and tell him to come pick you up. Give me your keys I need to lock your door"

"Larry-"

"Now Charles" Larry said gently seeing that his friend was clearly distressed. Charles gave a large sigh and then dug around in his pockets to get his keys. Larry took the keys without a word and gave him the undetermined object to hold to the back of his head. Charlie walked wearily to the door, feeling his pulse beating painfully in his head. When he got to the door he paused-

"Thanks Larry"

"No problem Charles" Larry replied watching his friend stagger to the medical building. He briefly ran over there conversation in his head as he walked towards the phone and it was then what Charlie had said registered in the physicist's mind: 'the man who took Alli and Amita'. Larry dialed faster then he thought he fingers could possibly go in this dimension.

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

"Did we get a hit off of the janitor's name?" Don shouted returning with his third cup of coffee (that he can remember)

"Nothing yet but the computer isn't done running the names" Colby answered

"Let me know when it kicks something out" Don replied dropping down at his desk. Don dropped his head into his hands trying to think of something, anything. Just then the phone rang "Eppes" He answered unconsciously

"I told you to leave this alone Eppes and you didn't. Now someone you love is hurt. You've also put them in the position to have to make a VERY hard decision"

"What did you do?" Don asked hardly keeping the venom out of his voice

"See, now that's exactly the kind of attitude that got you in trouble in the first place"

"Tell me what you did" Don demanded more calm this time (only for the sake of pacifying the man)

"Just wait, you should get a call soon…very soon" Then he ended the call

"DAMN IT!" Don bellowed slamming his fist down on his desk

"Don?! What's going on?!" Megan called running to Don's side followed closely by Colby and David

"Our murderer just called again and told me that someone I loved has gotten hurt and now they have to make a very hard decision. I can only guess that it's either Charlie or my father" Don explained trying to keep his anger at bay.

"Don-" Megan started but the ringing phone and the speed at which Don reached for it silenced her

"Eppes" Don said out of habit

"Don, this is Larry Fleinhardt"

"What happened to him Larry?" Don asked hurriedly. There was an awkward silence on the other end that was no doubt Larry trying to figure out how Don knew something had happened to Charlie

"Um, someone apparently attacked him during what I had assumed was a fire drill…now I'm not so sure"

"Did he see who?"

"I didn't get a lot of details. He was going to rush out of here to get to you but he had some sort of wound on his head that was bleeding so I sent him to the medical complex promising that I would call you"

"Thanks Larry. Can you do me a favor and go stay with him? You know make sure he doesn't do anything crazy or stupid"

"Of course Don. I'll leave right now. See you soon" Larry answered and moved to hang up when he heard Don shout "Yes Don?"

"Thank you" Don replied then hung up "Guys- Charlie was attacked. I have to go see him" Don called picking up his car keys and rushing out of the office before anyone can stop him

"Why do I have a really bad feeling about this whole situation?" Colby asked

"Because I do too" Megan replied then walked back to her desk to see what else she could do to close this case

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

"Ow!" Charlie flinched as the nurse practitioner prodded the sensitive area surrounding his wound

"Sorry" She apologized quickly "How did this happen again Dr. Eppes?" She asked moving to clean and bandage the wound

"I was reaching for a book on the top shelf of my bookcase and when I removed it whatever was sitting on top of it came down to and hit me"

"You're lucky that whatever it was didn't hit a place where it could have done more damage like your eye"

"Yeah, lucky me" Charlie grumbled in response wishing he could just leave already. Just as the nurse was finishing up and giving him instructions on how to care for the wound and such, Larry bumbled in

"Hello Charles" Larry greeted and then gave a cursory wave to the nurse, she waved back.

"Larry" He greeted back looking grave "Any news or…anything?" Charlie asked letting some anxiousness mar his normally innocent face. The nurse took this moment to tell them she was finished before excusing herself. Larry got up and walked out of the exam room, Charlie close behind. Charlie waved at the nurse who helped him on their way out. As they sat down on the bench outside (after all they couldn't go very far- Don was meeting them at the medical complex). They sat quietly for a moment when it occurred to Larry that he never answered Charlie's question.

"Nothing yet. Don is on his way here though. He instructed me to wait with you…make sure you didn't do anything stupid like run off again"

"Well if Don's coming here then I don't need to go running anywhere"

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Larry asked after another moment of silence had passed

"When Don gets here" Charlie answered softly. Larry looked like he was going to object for a moment but decided against it. However, Larry was lucky because a few minutes later a large SUV pulled into the parking lot and Don rushed out. Don being in the huge rush he was ran past the two men sitting silently and stock still and didn't realize that those two men were in fact the men he was looking for until he made it to the waiting room. He abruptly turned and walked out to greet the men

"Hello Don" Larry spoke solemnly

"Larry" He returned then he sat next to his brother. After a few seconds Don's self control gave way and he proceeded to examine his brother's head

"Don, cut it out" Charlie said attempting to swat his brother's hand away from his still sore wound. Don ignored Charlie's attempts and did not stop until he was seemingly satisfied

"Charlie, what happened?" Don asked letting his hand rest on his brother's shoulder. Charlie opened his mouth to begin but forcing himself to talk about it brought up an image that will no doubt haunt Charlie for a long time: Amita's face filled with fear and Alli sobbing at her side. "Charlie I know this is hard but you really need to tell me what happened"

"A man took-" Charlie's voice broke and he had to pause to take a deep breath "-he took Amita and Alli" Charlie paused again and proceeded to retell Don EVERYTHING- the excitement he felt when Alli and Larry seemed to accept each other, the flutter in his stomach when he took Alli's hand, the fear he felt when he realized Alli was in trouble and the terror when he knew Amita was now in trouble too "…and then Larry was waking me up" He finished tears burning behind his eyes

"Charlie, we'll find him. Don't worry" Don said giving a comforting squeeze to his little brother's shoulder. Charlie shook his head

"How do you know Don? How do you know they're not already dead? I don't even know what I'm supposed to do. I mean he said that you were poking around in his business and he knew I was helping you, so I think that it's safe to assume he's talking about your rape/murder case…but I mean how do I know that he knows I stopped helping? How does he expect me to get you top stop the investigation? And what about his…last threat? Do I have a time table? If I agree to call everything off will one of them still have to die- oh god Don one of the girls are going to die and I'm going to do it" Charlie collapsed into tears as it all sunk in again. Larry and Don both put an arm around Charlie (Larry his shoulders, Don his waist) and sat there until his sobs subsided

"Charlie" Don said softly and waited for his brother to look him in the eyes "I can't tell you that I know everything's ok but I can promise you that I and the rest of the team will do everything we possibly can to stop this monster. Now let's go back to your office, I'll call the team who'll bring the crime scene guys"

"Thanks Don" Charlie answered and slowly ambled toward his office, Larry not far behind. Don watched him for a moment with a frown on his face- _Don't thank me yet buddy._

A/N: Review cause if I get enough I'll write this over the break instead of working on something else...Next chapter we'll be with Amita and Alli


	17. Chapter 17

I'M BAAH-AACCCK!

Chapter 17

Alli refused to scream every time the man's grip tightened on her arm. Amita's face seemed to be conveying the same sentiment. The man dragging them through the hallways paid them no attention as he struggled to get out of them building before everyone made it back in. Allison almost tripped down the stairs and he glared at her and something felt familiar about his glare but he turned around and continued the trip before she could figure out why. With a lot more tugging the three arrived at a classic white van parked in an isolated part of the campus.

"Get in" The man barked at the two women as he opened the sliding door to the back. Alli quickly got into the van knowing that when one is dealing with a controlling man threatening pain that it is easier to do what they say rather then fight. Amita however seemed to have a different opinion-

"No" She answered raising her head while standing up straighter trying to appear more confident then she felt

"What did you just say?" The man barked again stroking the butt of his gun

"I said no. I'm getting in the back of the van until you tell me why we're here" Amita said not refusing to back down. Alli who is watching all of this is getting more and more fearful for Amita again knowing you don't mess with the man in control

"Get in the van or-" The man took out his gun an pointed it at Alli "I'll shoot her" Alli started crying again and Amita's eyes widened with fear for a moment before anger crossed them again. As Amita passed him to get into the van she gave him the dirtiest look she could muster

"That's what I thought. Now you two will behave back there or I'll kill you here and now" He said more calmly then slammed the door shut

"Amita" Alli whispered

"Yes?" Amita whispered back

"I'm scared" Alli admitted to the woman sitting next to her. Amita turned and took in the sight of Alli's tear stained face full of terror. Amita felt her heart soften

"Me too" She answered taking her hand. _Who would have thought this would ever happen?_

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

The girls rode in the back of the van for what felt like forever. Amita couldn't't help thinking about Charlie, neither could Alli. Neither girl noticed their hands were still clenched and both seemed to come to the understanding that they had to stick together regardless of whatever differences they may have (after all they are both after Charlie) and maybe they'll get through this alive. After what seemed like forever to Amita and only a minute to Alli, they arrived at their destination. The man jerked to a stop and let out a short laugh when he heard the dull thud of at least one of the women tipping over. He ran to the side of the van and flung the door open. Alli was cowering, pressed against the wall of the van and Amita was staring at him with all her might but he could see she was slowly losing her power of confidence. With a wolf like grin he grabbed Alli with one hand and Amita with the other and tugged them both out of the van.

Amita considered making a run for it when she felt the grip on her arm loosen slightly but when she saw the absolute terror in Alli's eyes she decided that she couldn't't just abandon her. Amita took a moment to try to take in her surroundings… unfortunately she discovered that there were no real distinguishing characteristics- she could be anywhere in L.A. The last thing she saw before the man dragged them into an abandoned office building was that they were surrounded by other broken down warehouses and office buildings. They wandered through a labyrinth of walls and rooms before the man shoved them into an empty room with a large, heavy metal door and slammed it shut behind him not saying a word. Amita waited a moment before getting to her feet…

"Damn it!" Amita swore at no one while kicking at the floor

"Shh, he'll hear you" Alli waved her wildly

"So what?! One of us is dead already!" Amita screamed forgetting about the silent agreement they had made in the van

"Because we don't know if he'll really kill us. Please, Amita, sit down. It's better to cooperate with him"

"Why should I listen to you?!" Amita yelled. Alli's temper rose and she snapped back before she could think-

"BECAUSE I'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE!" Both Alli's and Amita's eyes widened before Alli dropped her head to look at the floor. _What's wrong with me? It took me so long to tell my family and Zoë that I was being abused and in the past few days I've told four, pretty much, strangers_

"What did you- were you?" Amita stumbled

"I was abused for awhile by my ex boyfriend, so again Amita, please sit down and believe me when I say in situations like this if you cooperate you have a better chance of not getting hurt as much" Amita stared at Alli for another moment before taking a seat

"I'm sorry I snapped like that it's just that what he said is starting to sink in. Allison, what if he really does mean to kill one of us?"

"Then he means to kill one of us" Alli answered leaning her head against the wall behind her "However that doesn't't mean that he'll get the chance to"

"What makes you so confident?" Amita asked Alli. She wasn't angry or doubtful, she just wanted to know where he confidence came from

"I know how smart Charlie is. I met Don- I know that he has to be a great agent. Between the two of them they have to be able to find us. Besides, its better then assuming one us is going to be shot"

"That is a good point" Amita replied closing her eyes.

Both the woman began to think of Charlie in the silence that now surrounded them. They both thought of how much they cared for him but most of all they thought _who will he choose?_

A/N: I'm sorry it took so long for me to update this story. Nursing is not an easy major (AKA all free time is spent studying). I missed you guys, I hope you'll forgive me for leavin you hangin...next chapter out as soon as I get it done


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: As always I would like to sincerely apologize for taking so long to update. I kinda just hit a wall as how to proceed. Also I would like to note that I keep calling the war room the conference room so from here on out its the war room. Thanks for hanging in there!

Chapter 18

As Don drove Charlie back to the building he wished more than anything he could read his brother's mind. _I can't even imagine how he must be feeling. It was bad enough he had to choose who to date, now some psychopath just told him their lives are in his hands. Don't worry buddy, I won't let that happen_. When Don pulled into the parking structure, he was concerned when Charlie continued staring ahead, seemingly not noticing that they were no longer driving…

"Charlie, buddy, we're here" Don called opening his car door.

"Hmm, what?...oh" Charlie mumbled opening his door.

Don watched as Charlie stumbled out of the car remembering at the last minute to grab his laptop. Charlie shuffled toward the elevator in a general haze and Don followed anxiously behind. _I don't know what scares me more- when he was ready to go out and kill the bastard or this apathetic haze he's in_. They boarded the elevator in a strained silence- Charlie lost in his thoughts and Don working the case frantically in his head. After they arrived in Don's general work area Charlie settled forlornly into Don's chair…

"I have to talk the team, wait here alright?" Don spoke softly to Charlie. He got no response "Charlie?!"

"Mmm. What?" He responded half heartedly.

"I'm going into the war room to talk to the team. Wait here ok?"

"Yeah, sure" Charlie answered then stared intently at his hands. Don shook his head one more time before walking to the war room.

"How's Charlie doing?" Megan asked the second Don walked through the door even though her eyes were looking beyond him and at Charlie was hand is head cradeled in his hands, his laptop case still dangling from his shoulder.

"He's okay, I guess. He's out of it and I just can't get a reading on what he's thinking" Don replied looking at his brother for a moment then turned back to his team "So, anything new come up?"

"Yeah something did come back" Colby answered with a small smile.

"Finally…whadda got?" Don asked trying to hold his hope at bay.

"We entered the name Vincent West into the database and nothing showed up-"

"I thought you said something came back?" Don questioned his impatience rising

"That is something. The computer kicked out nothing at all. No phone bills, no current address, no social security number. Vincent West doesn't exist."

"Maybe the mother got it wrong" Don suggested trying to sound calm but his stomach was tying itself in a knot nevertheless.

"She didn't. When we checked the building's employees list- which isn't kept by electronic means seeing as each business is responsible for itself and each business is a small business- Vincent West came up on the records." Megan said while pulling it up on the big screen where it was highlighted "Apparently the building didn't think that janitors warrant a background check"

"David and Colby, go to whoever his boss was and see if he has some sort of photo documentation. If he doesn't, go to security and get the tapes then make him sit down and pick him out off the footage. He's our only lead" Don instructed and the men responded with a nod and left.

"And me?" Megan asked after a beat

"You are going to get security footage from CalSci from the crime scence guys by any means necessary. I'm going to sit at my desk and go over the phone recording while keeping an eye on Charlie…not that its going to be hard to keep an eye on Charlie"

"It'll be ok…he'll be ok" Megan laid a supporting hand on Don's shoulder for a moment to let him know that she was there if he needed to talk then left.

"Man, I hope so" Don mumbled under his breath before heading to his desk.

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

"Amita this is going to sound horrible but I'm bored and my butt hurts" Alli said into the silence. Amita snorted.

"Well we can't exactly do anything" Amita replied shifting a little. _Man, now that she mentioned it MY butt hurts_

"We could play a game or something" Alli suggested trying anything to fill the silence. _The silence leaves too much time to think._

"Like what I spy? I spy with my little eye something gray- oh wait that's the whole room" Amita answered her voice dripping with sarcasm. _We're being hold hostage by a men threatening to kill us and she wants to play games?!_

"You don't need to get snippy with me" Alli snapped back "We're stuck here- I'm just trying to keep the mood light"

"We don't need the mood lightened- we need to get the hell out of here" Amita responded angrily.

"Look, I'm sorry that I suggested that we play a game. We can't fight- that's what he wants. Its just we're both obviously stressed and I wanted to do something to relax us"

"Well knock yourself out- I think I'll try and take a nap" Amita answered the anger gone from her voice

"Ok, I think I'll do yoga" Alli replied and jumped up. _Man, am I really about to do this? Have I gone completely insane?...the stress is probably just getting to me._

"Seriously?" Amita asked staring at Alli like she was completely insane

"Yeah, I'm going to do yoga…I can't sit still" Alli responded and then quietly added "It leaves too much time for thinking"

Amita just stared, shook her head, and closed her eyes. Alli shrugged and started her yoga session. _I know she thinks I'm crazy but I just can't sit still any longer with nothing to think about other than whether or not I'm going to d-…stop it, focus on downward dog._

"Alli?" Amita called after ten minutes of silence.

"Yes?" Came the reply

"Who do you think he'll choose?" Amita whispered so softly that Alli wasn't sure she even heard her actually say it.

"I don't think he will choose" Alli replied clamly switching poses

"BUT HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE AND CALM ABOUT THIS?!" Amita screamed "HOW?! Charlie is a mathematician not a trained negotiator! What if he has to choose?! Even if he has to choose and he doesn't actually intend for it to mean anything-"

"Then he'll choose and it doesn't mean anything" Alli answered crossing the room and taking both of Amita's hands "You can't think like that. Getting yourself into a defeated mindset is only giving him what he wants. Amita, Don and Charlie will find us- BEFORE he demands Charlie's answer" Alli gave Amita a brief and fleeting hug but in her mind she added _he'll choose you anyway._

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

A/N: I know that this particular scene with the girls is unlikely. In real life they wouldn't be left to roam the room and in real life doing yoga while being held captive is HIGHLY unlikely- but it's my story and I am claiming artistic license. I promise I will make an effort to get another chapter out soon. Writing is a stress relief and my life is about to get REALLY hectic so that bodes well for you guys.

Let me know you like the way the stories going…if not tell me and make a suggestion and I'll take it into account when writing the next chapter. Of course that means you'll have to drop me a review :-D


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Mr. Kearney, will you please hand over the file?" Colby said trying to restrain himself.

"Don't you fellas need a warrant or somethin'?" Mr. Mike Kearny asked for the fourth time (by David's count).

"Look, we can get a warrant but this is an issue that is time sensitive and we really can't afford to lose hours finding a judge to sign a warrant and coming back. Please, sir, just give us the file. We'll copy the needed information at the upstairs kinkos and then hand it back over- it never has to leave the building." David said trying to simultaneously get the file and keep Colby from just tackling the guy to get his way.

"I don't know if I should give this to you." Mike said being inordinately stubborn. Colby lost all of his patience at this precise moment.

"If you don't give us the file right now I will charge with obstruction of justice, hall your ass downtown and throw you in jail for as long as I feel like." Colby shouted. Mike stared at him, baffled for a moment before silently handing Colby the file and returning to his spot behind the desk (which is where he was before David and Colby came in to ask for the file).

"Thank you Mr. Kearney for being so...well, we'll get this back to you soon." David said nodding his head at him. Colby and Mike exchanged glares before Colby turned on his heel and followed David out of the basement office.

"What the hell was that?" Asked a highly amused David.

"He was pissing me off!" Colby exclaimed while throwing his hands in the air. "That took a hell of a lot longer than it should have- and all because he was afraid that he was going get in trouble for handing over the file. Never mind the fact that he has such a lenient hiring policy he didn't even know that one of his employees doesn't actually exist."

"Well, if it is any consolation I'm sure he'll think twice about his next few hires." David said with a smirk on face. Colby replied with a smile of his own.

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

"Staring at Charlie isn't going to snap him back to reality." Megan said quietly sliding up next to her boss and offering up a cookie. Don accepted it without a word and without looking at her. Megan let go of the fact that Don didn't say thank you.

"I know." Don said shaking his head still staring at Charlie. "I just can't help feeling like I could have done something."

"Don, look at me." Megan said then waited till Don looked at her before continuing. "There was nothing that you could have done to prevent this."

"Yes there was!" Don shouted before regaining his composure. Megan just silently waited for him to explain. "I could have done something Megan. I could have kicked the investigation to someone else- especially after I found out that he was going to go after my family and speaking of which, I could have put an agent on my family. I just didn't think that this would happen." Don finished quietly as all of the anger and frustration drained away.

"No one did." Megan said quietly. "Don, why don't you take a break for a few hours? Take Charlie home, have a real meal that you father cooked. You got nothing from the phone calls and I still have lots of video to go through. Hey, I'm sure me and the boys could hold down the fort."

"I can't do that Megan. Not while people that Charlie care about are being held by a sadistic lunatic."

"At least take an hour so you can take Charlie home. He's only here because it's where you drove him. You already got his statement- he has nothing left to do. At least at home he'll have your father for support."

"But…" Don started and then trailed off. He didn't really want to admit to the real reason why he didn't what Charlie to go home. _What if he locks himself in the garage and starts working on P vs. NP?_

"'But what' Don?" Megan crossed her arms and stared at Don letting him know that she had no intention of dropping the matter till he admitted to why he was holding Charlie captive at the office.

"But I'm afraid he's going to lose himself in the numbers- like when our mom died." Don sighed and continued on glad that he had a sympathetic person's ear. "Charlie's coping mechanism is to work on the unsolvable equation. He goes to his happy place but never comes back."

"Don, I think Charlie is a different person now. I don't know what he was like when you're mother got sick but from the time that I met him to now, he is a very different person. I think he can handle it- especially with his big brother at his side. Now, go take him home and stay with him for a few hours and I don't care that you want to be here. Being so worried about Charlie that you can't focus is not a place that you should be during this investigation. If it were me, you would have sent me home long ago and we both know it."

"Megan-" Don started but then died off with one more glance at Charlie. "You'll call me if anything comes up?"

"Like you have to ask." She replied nudging him with her shoulder. Don walked toward the door of the conference room but paused when he reached the door. "Thanks."

"No problem boss." Megan replied with a soft smile. Don paused another moment and then walked over to his desk. When he reached it however, he stopped short. Charlie was staring at his laptop (which was closed on his lap) and doing nothing else. His stomach twisted itself into a knot.

"Hey, Charlie, grab you're stuff cause we're getting out of here for a little bit." Don said grabbing his jacket off of the back of the chair.

"What?! We're leaving?! Why?!" Charlie sputtered having his first reaction since Don picked him up at Calsci.

"Because we both need to take a break and I think that going back to your house is the best place to do that." Don replied while pulling out Charlie's chair.

"But- but…what if something happens? Don't you need to be here? What if I want to be here?" Charlie said not making a move.

"I don't need to be here Charlie and you know that. The boys are out following our only lead with the janitor's boss and Megan is still reviewing the film. I didn't turn anything up with the phone recordings and I haven't done anything since then." Don answered, though the words 'except worry about you' hung in the air.

"But-" Charlie started.

"No 'but's or excuses Charlie. We aren't of any help right now and we won't be if we don't take a break." Don answered pulling Charlie into the standing position. "Come on buddy, let's get you home."

"Do I have any choice?" Charlie said but started to collect his things nonetheless.

"Of course you do buddy. I just think that home would be a better place for you right now." Don replied and then escorted Charlie to the elevator. After the short ride down, Don placed Charlie in the SUV with a knot tightening in his stomach. They rode in silence for the trip with Don working furiously on the all the aspects of the case that he could remember off the top of his and Charlie trying (and failing) to not weigh who he should choose. _I gotta stop this! I need to trust Don to find them without running out of time- which reminds me…_

"Don?" Charlie croaked out. Don was in such deep thought that it took the utilization of all of his training to not jump out of his skin or lose control of the car because Charlie had startled him.

"Yeah buddy?"

"Did you…did you hear from…from the guy?" Charlie managed to stutter out.

"Why do you want to know?" Don asked while trying with all of his might to appear calm and nonchalant.

"Because he said that I'd have to make the choice. I'd like to-to know just how long I have to make the choice."

"Charlie, I promise you that we will find them before it comes to that."

"I know Don, I know but we don't even know what demands he's going to make and on what time table." Charlie responded before heaving a deep sigh.

"When we get to the house I promise I will call David and Colby and find out if-what they got from talking to the boss."

"Thank you Don." Charlie said quietly not looking at his brother but Don could still hear the effort in Charlie's voice to not cry- and it broke his heart. As they pulled up to the house, the brothers sat in a contemplative silence and while they each had their own thoughts they were both doing something they hadn't done in a very long time- they prayed.

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

A/N: Hey all, leave me a review and let me know you're still out there. I've hit more walls than I could count with this story and I need to know if you want to keep reading or if I should scrap this and start a new one.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: So imagine my surprise when I was looking at the TV guide only to discover that the season finale's episode title was When Worlds Collide. I might have gasped loud enough to draw the attention of my mom who was in the other room. At least the episode didn't have a similar plot- then I would have been freaked out.

Chapter 20

"How long do you think we've been here?" Alli asked the silence- Amita had decided that she was going to try to go to sleep (however, due to the amount of tossing and turning that she was doing, Alli figured that she wasn't successful).

"I dunno. Ten, twelve hours maybe." Amita replied with her eyes closed.

"Do-do you think he's made his demands yet?" Alli asked. This question caused Amita to sit up and open her eyes. It was something that she was wondering herself.

"I don't think so. I've worked a few of these cases with Charlie and the guys that do these things are despicable and odds are that he'll want us to hear him make the demands. He'll want us to hear his threat again. Keep us scared."

"You've worked cases with Charlie and Don before?" Alli asked curious (and a little impressed).

"Yeah. On a bunch. Most of the times they're ones that involved computers and websites. Charlie may be a math genius but his skills involving computers is severely limited. Well, those and the ones that an immense amount of math is required. Charlie may be Charlie but he's still only human."

"Bad with computers? Really? I thought working for the FBI would have required him to be computer savvy." Alli commented glad to have something to talk about.

"Well, he has some skill. I wouldn't call him completely incapable." Amita answered scooting closer to Alli. "He can write computer programs well enough to run his algorithms but anything that takes real skill he hands to me or any of the computer science majors that work at the super computer lab on campus."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Alli said quirking a smile. "So, tell me about these cases that you've worked on. They have to be pretty interesting- and before you say it I know that they're all top secret and you can't divulge any secrets or anything but maybe if you hypothetically had a arsonist case what would you do?"

Amita quirked a smile at her fellow captive. _Maybe she's no all that bad after all_. "Well, one would have to configure the fireprint- a new creation of our favorite mathematician. You'd evaluate and compare the fireprint to other unsolved cases and work off of that information from there. The more data there is the better the chances of catching the bad guy. I mean, that's what I am assuming that you would have to do if you had to work an arson case." Amita finished with a knowing smile and Alli returned it. "So, Alli, tell me what do at the school."

"I am the new music professor. Mostly I just teach theory stuff but all the professors have to take on students for private lessons."

"What lessons do you give?" Amita asked genuinely interested. _Maybe I can finally learn to play piano…if we both get out of here that is._

"I give a voice lesson or two but most of the lessons are for keyboard/piano."

"Cool. When we get out of here maybe you can give me a lesson or two for the piano."

"Sure." Alli said with a bittersweet smile. "So, Amita, tell me how you met Charlie." _Really, I just want to know more about him._

"He was my thesis advisor. We started working together more and more once Charlie started bringing me in for cases that Don needed help on." She paused for a moment then finished- "Now, I'm not sure what's going to happen."

"What do you mean?" Alli asked concernedly.

"Well, I got this great job offer at Harvard but I'm not sure I want to take it. I mean its only three years but its three years away from everyone that I've known."

"Not to mention Charlie is here." Alli added deciding that maybe it was finally time to address the main issue between them.

"Yeah, Charlie." Amita replied half heartedly then fell silent. Alli gave Amita a minute of silence before she decided to just suck it up and address it herself.

"Look, Amita about what you saw-" Alli started before Amita held up her hand silencing her.

"I don't want to hear about it. It's hard enough having to make the choice between here and Harvard without you." Amita snapped then refused to look at Alli. Alli pretended to not be all that hurt by the other woman's venomous words. However, she wasn't going to be dissuaded from talking about this important topic. _Even if I may change a few things around to make it not sound so bad._

"No, you are going to hear about it because you need to know all the details. I got into a huge fight with my mom and none of my friends were picking up their phones so I called Charlie crying hysterically. He told me that I either had to calm down or come over and talk there. So, speaking before I thought, I said that I would come over there. He promptly sat me down and asked me to explain. It took me a minute but eventually I told him what the fight was about-"

"What was it about?" Amita asked keeping her thoughts and comments to herself till the end.

"My abusive ex boyfriend. It is still a very sensitive and emotional subject- so I may have ended up crying myself to sleep." Alli finished (of course leaving out the fact that she was on Charlie's lap when she fell asleep). "When I woke up I was in a bed. After a moment, I realized that I should probably go downstairs. When, I did…" Alli trailed off knowing that Amita already knew how it was going to end.

"So…" Amita said and even though she didn't want to admit that she was wrong she added- "Nothing happened?"

"Nothing happened." Alli said as convincingly as she could and Amita looked relieved. _Of course, if Amita knew that I ended up getting drunk and being carried to his bed for a second time and then some time during the night- after having a nightmare and sobbing into his chest- was comforted back into sleep while he laid by my side, she wouldn't be so calm._ The ladies were quiet for a moment or two before Amita spoke, so quietly that Alli had to strain to hear.

"Do you think I should go to Harvard?"

"Excuse me?" Alli asked not believing her ears. _Did she really just ask my opinion on a life decision?_

"I said- I asked, do you think that I should go to Harvard?"

"I don't know Amita. Why would you want to go to Harvard?" Alli asked wanting to suggest for her to go as far away from Charlie (and her) as possible but managed to restrain herself.

"It's a great opportunity- to teach at Harvard. I mean imagine the students and the facility." Amita exclaimed with lots of gestures.

"I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"But California is my home. Like I said, all my family is here. All my friends are here."

"And again- Charlie is here." Alli finished for her quietly.

"Yeah. Charlie." Amita agreed softly.

"Well, if I may be so bold, after what I've been through with my ex boyfriend, I don't think you should stay here for a guy." Alli said. Amita opened her mouth to comment but Alli shushed her. "Yes, I know, Charlie isn't abusive- and let's not try to kid ourselves. You're hesitating because of Charlie- not because of your family. You obviously care for him but you need to seriously consider the options. Don't pass up an opportunity to teach at Harvard for a g-" Alli started but was interrupted by the sound of the large metal door slamming open and then closed again.

"How touching- you're beginning to bond." The kidnapper quipped while leaning against one of the walls. The girls stayed silent. "What you're not going to say hi?"

"My mother always told me not to speak to strangers." Amita said smartly and before she could smirk, the kidnapper had crossed the room and slapped her. Amita looked shocked and Alli looked like she wanted to cry and scream. She settled for a whimper.

"Don't try and be funny 'cause if you do Charlie's choices between which woman he can save will go down to one. Which I suppose is good news for you Al." He answered with a cold smile and something sparked in Alli's mind. It also caused a spike of fear to shoot through her heart. She struggled to keep it off her face.

"Funny that you should look at it as good news for you and not bad news for you." Alli said trying to be smart but she was shaking inside.

"That's a lame baiting line but I'll indulge you and bite. Why is it bad news for me?"

"You'll have committed the murder of an FBI consultant. Pretty sure they won't look too kindly on that." Alli informed the floor. She was too afraid to look him in the eyes.

"Yeah, well, they brought it upon themselves. I told them to leave me alone and they chose to ignore my warnings."

"You had to know that they wouldn't do that. You know that the FBI can't let you off the hook for rapin and murdering several people." Amita said not looking their kidnapper in the face (knowing that if she would, her anger would bubble over). The kidnapper, however, did not seem to be effected by her words at all.

"Yeah, but this isn't any other case- this is personal." He answered with a so much conviction (and so little remorse) that almost made Alli cry. "In any case ladies, I think I'll make your boy toy sweat it out a little longer and then I'll think of some demands. Have fun ladies and try not to get too close to each other- one of you may not be alive for much longer."

The girls stayed silent for a moment before the kidnapper laughed roughly (who knew at what), and Alli shivered. Amita gave him her best glare but he just shook it off. After the door had been closed for a sufficient amount of time, Amita looked over to see how Alli was doing and she was shocked to find her pale and shaking.

"Alli- what's wrong?" Amita asked concerned for her…acquaintance/fellow victim/friend.

"I-I-I" Alli stuttered before she started crying. Amita froze for a second not knowing what to do with her before she made the decision to hug Alli.

"Alli, I know this is really scary but I know that Charlie, Don and his team will find us before anything happens."

"N-no, that's not wh-why I'm crying. Amita, I kn-know him."

"Who? The kidnapper?" Amita asked surprised and confused.

"Yes, him. Amita, that's John. That's my ex boyfriend. Th-the one that abused me."

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

A/N: I know that you probably saw who it was going to be coming from a mile away but I guess I still get to hold you in suspense with who Charlie is going to end up with. Please review- it makes me happier than you will ever know.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Don! We have a match!" Colby screamed at the top of his lungs.

"What?" Don shouted back not believing his ears. After attempting to relax (and failing) for an hour or two with Charlie, he returned to the office to continue going through the files.

"We have a match. We reviewed footage from the business building where the curator's daughter went to ballet class and we got an ID from the employer. So, we took the picture an ran it through CODIS and we got a match!" Colby exclaimed relieved that they were theoretically close to closing the case.

"And who is this guy?" Don asked on the edge of his seat. He needed to know. He needed to catch this guy.

"His name is-" Colby started to say but was stopped by Don's phone ringing. Everyone quickly stirred into action to get the recording and trace going. Colby also quickly scribbled down the kidnapper's name. Don waited for the thumbs up from his team before quickly picking up the phone.

"Eppes." He answered gruffly.

"Now, Now, Agent Eppes that is not a nice way to answer the phone."

"No, I suppose its not." Don said agreeing for the sake of keeping him on the phone. Don stayed quiet for a moment more waiting for the kidnapper to make the next move. Seeing this, Colby took the opportunity to hand Don the name of the kidnapper. Don waited a moment more for the kidnapper- _John Valentine_, he reminded himself-and when he didn't he decided to take an initiative. "What do you want Mr. John Valentine? Or do you prefer Vincent West?"

"Very good Eppes, you know who I am- but that doesn't do you very much good."

"It does me some good." Don replied then looked at David to see how they were doing on the trace. David waved his hand indicating to Don that he needed to keep him talking.

"So you know who I am- big deal." John retaliated starting to lose his patience. "I have my demands for you and there aren't many. One to be exact."

"What do you want?" Don snapped. He was losing his patience but it didn't matter because out of the corner of his eye he saw David hold up ten fingers and flash them twice meaning that Don only had to keep the guy on for twenty more seconds.

"I want you to let me go. It's simple really, you want the girls and I want my freedom." John snapped back. Don looked at David and got a thumbs up. The trace was done- they got his location.

"John, we've done this-"

"And look what happened." John interrupted smugly. "Which reminds me. Your darling brother has one hours to make his choice- if not I close my eyes and it's 'eeny-meeny-miny-mo'. Bye for now Eppes." John said before hanging up. Don slammed the phone down and looked at his team mates.

"Where is he?" Don demanded as calmly as possible (which was understandably not calm at all).

"He's in a district of abandoned buildings and warehouses." Megan answered while she stood to collect all of her gear (ex. her gun).

"How long will it take us to get a tact team together?" Colby asked as he got his primary gun and then his backup that got strapped to his ankle. Don was silent for a moment before anger clouded his eyes and a fist struck the desk.

"Damn it!" Don shouted suddenly angry.

"What is it?" David asked vaguely alarmed.

"With Robinson's sting going down today, it'll be at least an hour before we can get any extra backup."

"So, let's do it without backup. There are four of us." Colby suggested visibly ready to go.

"What does his profile say Megan? Think that going in there just the four of us is dangerous?" Don asked.

"No, I think if we're careful we can do it. His profile suggests that he won't be heavily armed and that he'll be alone- but Don, you know that we shouldn't do this alone, not without backup. Merrick will have our heads if we don't do this without more agents."

"Fine. See if there are any agents available." Don commanded. "I'm going to go get Charlie." Don said. He watched Megan and Colby spread out to ask their fellow agents. Seemingly satisfied he turned to leave but David called to him.

"Don, I know that Charlie is involved with this but don't you think you should leave him home? Not to mention the amount of time that we'll lose picking him. We only have fifty minutes or so and the warehouse is thirty minutes away. Don, I know that you want to get Charlie but we just don't have time."

"Fine. I won't get him but I have to at least call him."

"Do that. I'll come get you when we're ready to roll." David replied then went to go organize everything. Don watched his colleagues for a moment before walking into the conference room, dialing Charlie's number the whole way.

"Charlie Eppes." Charlie answered quickly. _He must have been waiting for the call_- Don thought before answering.

"Hey buddy it's Don."

"Any news?" Charlie asked eagerly.

"Yeah. We got his name-"

"Who is it?" Charlie interrupted. _I have to know who this guy is._

"His name is John Valentine." Don said.

"I have no clue who that is." Charlie said honestly upset. _I don't know why I thought I would feel better if I knew him- you think that I would feel worse_.

"Yeah, but Charlie that isn't the reason why I called. We have his location and we're going to get him."

"When?!" Charlie exclaimed glad that the house was empty (he would have hated to have disturbed his father).

"In about five minutes." Don answered and then braced himself for Charlie's outrage.

"Damn it Don I wanted to go with you!" Charlie shouted into the phone.

"Charlie there is no time and you know that I wouldn't bring you into a take down- especially since this guy has a vendetta against us.

"But Don-" Charlie started but at that moment David came in a nodded his head meaning that it was time to go.

"Too late Charlie, we're leaving now. Come down to the office, they'll let you up and you can be here when we bring the girls back." Don said while rushing to his desk. "I'm sorry buddy, there just wasn't time." Don added quietly while he was holstering his gun.

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Okay." Don said briefly before hanging up. He stared at the phone and shook his head. _Hold on buddy we'll bring them home safe and sound_.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: A summary (because its been so long): Charlie met a woman (Alli), he likes her, she likes him. She was abused when she was younger and poured her heart out to Charlie at his house then cried herself to sleep. Amita told Charlie that she got a job offer at Harvard, the only thing that's keeping her from taking the job is him and was disgruntled to find Alli there- this of course leads to Charlie angst about which woman to pursue.

Meanwhile Don is working a serial rape/murder case with Charlie's help of course. The rapist/murder warned Don (and inadvertently Charlie) to back off, he/they didn't and as result he strikes out at them both by kidnapping Alli and Amita. We last left everybody off with Don and the team knowing the identity and location of the murder/rapist- Alli's ex (abusive) boyfriend- and rushing to get there because of an one hour timeline. Amita and Alli were still being held captive and Charlie was stuck waiting for news at home.

Sound okay? If not go back and re-read the story.

Chapter 22

"I feel like it's been about forty five minutes." Amita said without emotion.

"Yeah." Alli answered with a nod- she didn't really trust herself to say more.

"Think they'll find us?" Amita asked her voice quivering with doubt and fear.

"Yes." Alli answered without thinking. Alli scooted closer and took Amita's hand. "They'll find us. You can't lose faith now."

"I know. I really do believe in my heart of hearts that they will find us…it just gets so hard."

"I can understand that." Alli responded then they both fell silent. "Man, I'm bored." Alli commented rolling her head. Amita just let out a short laugh.

"Didn't we do this earlier?" Amita asked.

"Yeah and I then did yoga."

"So, what do you propose we do now differently than then?" Amita posed the question. As Amita watched Alli ponder on how to keep herself occupied she realized that Alli had grown on her (much to her opposition). _Maybe I'll take that job at Harvard- that is if we ever get the hell out of here_.

"Aha!" Alli exclaimed after a moment. "Wanna play truth or-" Alli said before she got interrupted by the door slamming open. John ran in slamming the door shut behind him.

"Okay, ladies, get on your feet right now." John shouted yanking on Alli's arm until she stood.

"What's going on?" Amita demanded as John tugged her to her feet.

"Seems your friends at the FBI found out where we were having this party." John replied angrily before starting to usher the girls toward the door.

"Where are you taking us? You can't do this again." Alli replied before her fear froze her jaw shut.

"I'm taking you away and that's all you need to know." He answered and in his anger he slammed the door shut behind them- thereby giving away their location.

John froze as he heard the many agents running towards him. In spilt second decision, John let go of the girls and pulled out a gun and trained it on them both. Every fiber of Alli's being was screaming at her not to faint. It was her worst nightmare come true- John was holding her at gun point threatening her life. Amita was frozen with fear for the first time. Both girls were thinking- _Oh my god, I'm going to die_.

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

Don was sitting very impatiently in the back of the van. Some of the other agents were checking out the building and stationing themselves to cover the other exits. Don couldn't remember the last time he was this anxious to go on a bust but then again it was never personal like it was now. As soon as the men said all clear to go in, Don was out of the door ready to charge in. Only Colby's call stopped him…

"Boss! What's the plan?" Colby shouted. Don stopped short- torn between the desire to end all of this dirty like the way it started and play things by the rules- the safe way.

"We go in hard, fast and dirty. I don't care how it gets done but we are getting those girls out of there."

"Alright Don." David said nodding, getting back into position.

"On my count." Don said then held up three fingers and counted down. Three, two, one "GO! GO! GO!" Don shouted and the team stormed the warehouse.

They flowed swiftly through the hallways. After a few moments it appeared that they had gotten the wrong location until they heard a door slam. The direct members of Don's team sprinted toward the sound, leaving the other agents in the dust. When Don (who was in the lead) turned the corner he saw the last thing he wanted to- John was pointing a gun at Amita and Alli…

"Valentine drop the weapon!" Don screamed pointing the gun at him. John slowly turned his head toward Don while leaving the gun pointed at the girls.

"I can't they know who I am" John said then switched the safety off.

"John, don't do this, I don't want to shoot you any more than you want to die."

"I can't go to jail." John said and then chaos occurred.

John quickly pulled the trigger at the same time Don did. There was a blur of movement as John went down, as well as the girls. David ran to John to make sure he was definitely dead and Don rushed to the girls…

"Girls are you alright?!" Don questioned as he pulled them apart from the heap they had formed on the floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Amita answered standing.

"I don't think I am." Alli replied then pulled her hand away from her stomach. It was covered in blood and the spot she had covered was growing larger by the second.

"Get a medic!" Don screamed. "Just hold on Alli. It's going to be okay."

"Tell Charlie I'm sorry." Alli said weakly.

"No! Don't say that! Alli, stay with me. Come on Alli- you can do it."

"But it hurts so bad." Alli murmured, pressing her hand harder to her stomach.

"I know it does honey, I know but you need to stay with us- here comes the medics now- stay awake and they'll give you morphine."

"I'm sorry Don." Alli said as her eyes fluttered closed.

The medics were at his side then. They hooked her up to all kinds of machines- she was still alive but barely and wouldn't be for long. They rushed her off, quickly telling Don that they were going to Cedar Sinai. Don stood up and just stared after her. Amita stood to the side- silent, in shock and forgotten.

"I gotta call Charlie." Don whispered to himself.

"Is she going to be okay?" Amita whispered. Don looked almost startled that she had spoken.

"I don't know Amita- I really don't know."

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

Don walked out as the rest of the agents took care of everything (including Amita). Don's immediate goal was trying to figure out how to tell Charlie that while John was apprehended and Amita was okay, Alli was in transit to the hospital with a gunshot wound to her abdomen. He took a deep breath and dialed the number. He answered on the first ring…

"Don?! Are they okay?! Did you get to them in time?!"

"Breathe Charlie."

"I'll breathe when you tell me they're all right."

"Charlie, we got to John-"

"Is he alive?"

"No, he's not." Don replied. There was silence on the other end and he could only imagine what Charlie was thinking.

"And the girls?" Charlie asked with fear and doubt clearly in his voice.

"Amita's okay but Alli-"

"Oh god Don- what happened?"

"She was shot in the stomach Charlie. She's in transit to Cedar Sinai."

"I'll see you there." Charlie said and then promptly hung up.

Don stared at his phone and shook his head then looked up at the sky. _Please let her be okay- after all that she's been through, please God just let her be okay._

1234567890987654321234567890987654321234567890

A/N: I know its been dreadfully long since this story was updated (nearly a year). I had honestly given up on writing this story- I had no idea how to end it and even where to take it next completely forgetting I didn't know where to take it….so, I had given up until one day my email inbox filled up with all these emails from a girl who loved my stories- I felt like I owed it to her and myself to finish this story. I missed writing for fanfic and I guess I just needed an excuse to start again.

So, readers, if you care- let me know who you want Charlie to end up with- I know who I want but its all about you guys. Drop me a review.


End file.
